


Played

by DaeMEon



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: Action/Adventure, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Mass Effect Kink Meme
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-31
Updated: 2013-11-20
Packaged: 2017-12-31 02:50:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 36,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1026397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaeMEon/pseuds/DaeMEon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the destruction of the Normandy and Shepard's death, Ashley is captured by Cerberus during a top secret Alliance mission. After torture proves ineffective, they turn to Miranda Lawson, who decides to use alternative means to get Ashley to talk. It gets complicated.</p><p>Written for a prompt on the kinkmeme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prisoner

The shuttle touched down lightly on the loading dock platform. A dark-skinned woman, flanked by two soldiers was watching it from the walkway bridge connecting the landing pad to the rest of the complex. As soon as the engines died, the woman, wearing a local company uniform, stepped forward nervously, shifting her weight from one leg onto the other. The shuttle door hissed open and a dark-haired vision stepped out in a white uniform brandishing the Cerberus logo. Even the soldiers let out a quiet gasp and probably even gaped at her behind their helmets.

“Operative Lawson,” the girl stepped forward to greet the newcomer. “My name is Hope... Hope Lilium, I’m your local PoC. We were told you will be coming to supervise the operation.”  
Hope felt Miranda Lawson’s cool, blue eyes size her up instantly, probably evaluating her. She spent exactly the right amount of effort acknowledging her, no more, no less. Hope pulled herself straight and presented her a datapad, trying very hard to make a good impression on her idol.

“Thank you,” Miranda Lawson took the datapad and started walking, Hope filing in right behind her left elbow. The Cerberus soldiers snapped to attention when they passed, then fell in line and followed the women into the rusty building. “Talk.” Miranda said and after a moment of hesitation, Hope started to talk.  
“The team arrived two days ago. I brought them to the secure location. I sent the message out as soon as we were in place. Captain Stills proceeded with the interrogation of the prisoner, but she didn’t talk... yet.”  
“She?” Miranda raised an eyebrow as she finished reading through the datapad.  
“Yes, ma’am.”

They reached the elevator and stepped in, descending into the depth of the mining complex.  
“How long have you been stationed here, Ms. Lilium?”  
“Hope... please,” she smiled, happy for the attention. It was a dull existence being the local Cerberus operative with nothing more to do than to listen in on broadcasts and collecting information. She was glad something finally happened, but she didn’t want to seem too eager. “I’ve been here for four months.”  
Miranda shot an empathic glance at her as the elevator car rumbled on downwards.  
“My sympathies.”  
Hope shrugged. “It’s not that bad... on the upper levels... in the capital,” she admitted as the elevator came to a clunking, shaking halt.

The door rattled open and Captain Stills was waiting there, standing at attention. His face showed surprise for a second, before nodding to the women in greeting. Lawson seemed to have this effect on people, Hope thought, but she didn’t seem to notice it. Probably got used to it by now.  
“Welcome, Operative Lawson. I appreciate your attention, but it is unnecessary. I can assure you, we can handle the situation ourselves,” Stills said in greeting, straight to the point, but keeping his tone very polite, business-like. He didn’t show too much respect to Hope, probably because she was a woman, but even he could not ignore Miranda Lawson’s standing in the hierarchy of Cerberus. Here was a woman, who could not be dismissed.

Miranda Lawson, however, seemed to dismiss Captain Stills right away.  
“I can assure you, Captain, that you do not have my attention. The Illusive Man on the other hand, noticed that your operation didn’t go smoothly.”  
Captain Stills swallowed. You did not want the Illusive Man to notice you if things didn’t go according to plan. There was such a thing as the wrong kind of attention. Especially if he sent one of his best agents to investigate.  
They walked across the hall and into a corridor.  
“If I may ask, Operative Lawson, what are your instructions?” Stills asked, sulking, opening a door for them.  
“Assessment and wrapping up as I see fit,” Miranda replied, shooting a glance at him as she walked in, followed closely by Hope. Stills frowned and closed the door behind them as he entered the dark room. The opposite wall was a one-way mirror, on the other side a brightly lit room with a table and two chairs.

“Bring her in,” Stills said to his radio before stopping to the left of Lawson, with Hope waiting on her right side. “We followed the vessel as instructed. As soon as they left batarian space, we tailed them to a refueling and trading station in the Exodus Cluster.” The door opened and two soldiers dragged in the prisoner, a lean, athletic woman in pants and a tank top, with a hood on her head. Her hands cuffed behind her back she was still struggling until they roughly slammed her down on a chair, arranging her arms behind the back of the chair. “They were probably going for an Alliance base on Eden Prime. We waited, as instructed, but she...” he nodded at the prisoner, “she spotted one of us in the bar. She killed two of my men and took out another four before we could take her down.”

“You got into a firefight at a space station?” Miranda frowned and looked at Stills sternly.  
“Of course not! Our orders were to get her alive.” he snorted in disdain. “We tried to snatch her when she left the bar after a couple of drinks. Not a single shot was fired.”  
Miranda raised her eyebrow.

“So you are telling me, that an unarmed, drunk Alliance marine took out six of your operatives before you could catch her?” she asked in an almost amused tone.  
Captain Stills shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t answer, just knocked on the mirror, signaling his men to take off the hood.  
One of the men yanked the hood off, revealing a dark-haired, dark eyed woman with a piercing gaze, cut lip and bruises on her cheek. She blinked a few times in the light, shook her distended locks of hair out of her face and looked around from the corners of her eyes.

Hope hissed as soon as she saw the face and even Miranda Lawson let out a surprised snort, which made Captain Stills nervous.  
“What is it?” he asked.  
Miranda let out a quiet chuckle.  
“Congratulations, Captain. You managed to capture and beat up the only living human Savior of the Citadel.”  
“W-wha...?”  
“She fought against Sovereign on the Citadel alongside Commander Shepard and survived his death after the Normandy went down,” Hope explained quickly. “That’s Ashley Williams, Captain Stills.”

Stills cursed under his breath. This was huge. Bigger than him. Suddenly he was relieved that Lawson was here. From now on, it was her responsibility.  
“We had no idea...”  
“Of course you hadn’t.” Replied Miranda Lawson, observing Williams through the window. “The operation was so hush-hush, that even we didn’t get the details. That’s why you needed to tail the cruiser.” She shot a glance at the captain. “Our suspicions were well founded, it seems. If they sent Ashley Williams, it must be something very sensitive.” She smirked. “No wonder she made your men, captain.”  
Stills nodded in appreciation by reflex, but right after that he wondered if he should be glad that he was called incompetent. He decided to keep quiet and watched the pale, statuesque features of the Operative as she surveyed the prisoner.

Ashley Williams seemed eerily calm, staring straight ahead with a dark gaze even after the guards left her alone in the room. She didn’t move a muscle, acknowledging the one-way mirror only with a side glance.  
“Was it necessary to beat her up, Captain?” Lawson asked like it was an inconvenience. “You should know you won’t get information from a marine by simple, physical torture.”  
Stills shrugged. “We didn’t know who she was at the time. And we needed to know if her men would come after her.”

Miranda Lawson didn’t respond, but watched Williams thoughtfully.  
“If this was such a covert op, they wouldn’t. Their orders would probably be to return to base and just shut up,” Hope suggested to break the silence. That earned a small nod from Lawson which made Hope smile proudly, but only briefly, quickly putting on a straight face. She didn’t want to seem unprofessional.

Lawson turned away from the window and looked at them.  
“She lost her idolized commander after saving the Citadel. Dropped off the radar after that. If she took this mission, she must have thought she won’t survive.” She paused, looking into the darkness thoughtfully. “Your normal interrogation methods wouldn’t work on her anyway. This requires a different approach.”

She stepped forward, glancing quickly at the datapad and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She shook her head, exhaled, and adjusted her uniform, looking down. When she looked up with her head still bowed, she smiled shyly at Hope, suddenly looking like rookie with a stage fright.  
“You know the playbook. Wait for my signal.” She said to Captain Stills in a softer tone and walked out.

Hope and Stills stared at each other incredulously, still processing what just happened. They turned their attention to the mirror and within seconds, Miranda entered, shifting uneasily when the door slammed shut behind her. She made her way to the table with eyes cast down, and only looked up at Ashley when she finally sat down.

She cleared her throat. “Major Williams. It is an honour to finally meet the Hero of the Citadel.” She said, her voice gradually getting stronger.

Hope made an appreciative chuckle at the charade, smiling in disbelief. “Oh, she’s good.”  
Stills mumbled something in agreement, still under the influence of the sudden transformation. He didn’t trust his voice, and it probably wouldn’t be wise to say what was on his mind, but he found it very, very hot.

***

The woman shifted in her seat across from Ashley, trying to find a stern enough pose as she fidgeted with her datapad. Ashley just stared at her with a straight face, her dark gaze sizing her up like a predator measuring her prey. She looked like a poster girl for Cerberus recruitment, impossibly pretty face, perfect hair, very tidy and neat, her Cerberus branded uniform hugging her perfect shape. Ashley was certainly not expecting a model to interrogate her. She certainly didn’t look intimidating. Maybe her charms would work on a man, but not her. She didn’t speak, and after a few long, awkward seconds the woman cleared her throat and went on.  
“My name is Miranda Lawson. I read all about you. You are a great hero of humanity. You make us proud.”  
Ashley resisted the urge to sneer at her. She didn’t want these terrorists to be proud of her. Lawson waited for a response, moistening her lips, fingers tapping on the datapad. When Ashley kept quiet, she went on.

“I was sorry to hear about Commander Shepard. He was an inspiration to us all.” That made a nerve twitch on Ashley’s face. What was she trying to do? Piss her off even more?  
Noticing Ashley’s reaction, Lawson quickly continued the one-sided conversation.  
“Our men didn’t know you led this operation, Major Williams. They should have been more... tactful.”  
Ashley’s lips almost twitched into a smirk, shooting a glance to the mirror. Blaming it on the team. The good cop, bad cop routine, apparently.  
“We just want to know about the operation, Major. I promise you, that you can return to the Alliance unharmed. Just... debrief us.”

Ashley kept her face straight. This woman was talking too much, giving away info. They didn’t know about the op, they didn’t know she was leading it. They were either that desperate, or this Lawson was prettier than smart. Sure, she looked confident enough, but she didn’t run the operation if it took days for her to appear.

Miranda waited again, then nodded as the silence grew. She checked her datapad.  
“Do you know a man named Abraham Rumoi?” She asked, waiting and checking Ashley’s reaction. “He is an Alliance intelligence operative, Major. Surely you know him.” Pause. “He is also known as Keiji Okuda, though. Did you know this, too? He steals and sells objects and information to the highest bidder. Like information about your operation. A rogue Alliance spy. That’s... unpleasant for the Alliance, isn’t it?”

Ashley couldn’t care less. It might not even be true. She kept her gaze locked on Lawson, see if she could make her squirm more. She didn’t, but she did sigh, a little bit impatiently, maybe.  
“Look, Major. I know you have trouble believing it, but we are actually on your side.” The woman looked into her eyes for the first time. She had perfect, blue eyes, and they seemed harder and more clever than Ashley believed at first. Maybe she wasn’t dumb. She just seemed out of her comfort zone a little bit. The woman actually reached forward over the table before she realized the futility of the gesture and pulled her hand back.

“Major Williams. We know what happened at the Citadel. We know that... thing, that Reaper, Commander Shepard called it,” the mention of Shepard’s name hit a nerve again. Ashley tried to hide it with a bored sigh, as she looked away at the ceiling, like she heard this sermon before. “We know it’s not a geth ship or a hoax. We actually believe there are more of them. Ask yourself, Major, what does the Council say about this?”

Ashley glanced back at Lawson. This was getting too close for comfort. What did Cerberus actually know? So far, the woman only shared public information. Their theory about the other Reapers could have been guesswork. Or they had inside men. She should probably get more information out of this woman somehow.

“Frustrating, isn’t it?” Lawson pressed on, misreading Ashley’s reaction. “They are in denial, Major, because that’s comfortable. And they still don’t take humanity seriously, even after we saved their asses. But I’m sure you know this feeling. I admire your loyalty to the Alliance and the Council, but is it worth it?”

Ashley kept her silence. Let the woman talk some more, trying to convince her with the good cop routine. The woman nodded in sympathy, as if Ashley agreed with her.  
“One last question, Major Williams.” She stopped fiddling with the datapad, and leaned her elbows on the table as she searched for Ashley’s gaze. “Have you seen anything similar to the ship, that destroyed the Normandy? Do you believe the propaganda that it was a geth ship, or do you believe your eyes? What did you see out there, Major?”

Miranda waited, locking her gaze with Ashley’s. None of them budged, but Ashley’s mind started to race. She was pushing the wrong buttons, bringing up the Normandy again and again. It was too soon and too painful and this was Cerberus. Admittedly though, maybe this Lawson woman was not that smooth as an interrogator, but she was certainly smarter than she gave her credit for. And they had sources.  
When she didn’t reply, Lawson nodded again and tore her gaze away from Ashley.  
“Very well then. Let’s take a break.” She started to stand up.

“That was three questions,” Ashley said finally. Lawson froze and slowly sank back into the chair.  
“W-what?”  
“Your one last question was actually three.”  
The other woman blinked. “Yes.”  
“You want me to give out military secrets to you and you try to recruit me. You beat me for two days and now you play the good cop here. I’m handcuffed to a chair and you don’t even give me a fucking glass of water. Not even a damn apology. If you’re trying to play the sisterhood card here, it’s not really working either.”

The Cerberus agent blushed slightly and looked down at her datapad for a second.  
“Your treatment was unfortunate—”  
Ashley snorted. This was getting nowhere, and she started to get riled more and more every time the Normandy was mentioned. It was time to drop some bait.  
“No, I haven’t seen anything like that ship. I believe my own eyes and that was no geth dreadnought. I’ll have my glass of water now.”  
“Very well,” Miranda nodded and allowed a faint smile, absently brushing her hair behind her ear as she cast her eyes down and stood up. Ashley almost raised her eyebrow at that gesture, but she kept still. “We will continue this later.”

She walked to the door, knocked on it, and glanced back at Ashley over her shoulder, almost jumping when the door clicked open. One more glance at their prisoner and she walked out.

***

Miranda stepped inside the observation room where Stills looked at her in bafflement, while Hope was smiling at her in barely veiled admiration.  
“That went reasonably well,” Miranda said coldly, without any trace of the act she just pulled at the interrogation room. “How many men you have on the ground, Captain?”

“Uh, six.”  
“Tell them to get ready. And Hope, as soon as we’re done here, fly to the capital and make arrangements for transport.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
Stills lifted a hand to stop them.  
“So what now? Do you really want to recruit her?”  
Miranda glared at him coolly.  
“She will never turn to Cerberus. She’s too loyal to the Alliance. If she would turn, she would be useless.”  
“Then what? Get her to talk and then what? Kill her?”  
“No. She cannot be harmed. If we kill her, the Alliance will step up their game against Cerberus.” She leaned against the wall and watched Williams through the window. “She is too important. An Alliance hero. We don’t kill heroes, Captain. She talks and then she walks.”  
“We can’t beat it out of her. We can’t harm her. Then what will it be? Drugs?”

Miranda sighed.  
“That’s not an option either. If we antagonize her against us too much, she will be a too powerful enemy. No. There have been mistakes in the past when too many human lives were sacrificed to get results. That’s just crude.”  
“Then how exactly do you plan to get the information from her without interrogation?”  
Miranda smiled, folding her arms in front of her chest. It was not a pleasant smile. It made Stills cringe.  
“She will simply tell it to me on her own. In private.”

***

They quickly went over the plan before Miranda disappeared for half an hour and came back refreshed and ready. She took a plastic cup, filled it with water and nodded to the guards to walk in with her.

From the observation room, Hope watched intently as Miranda walked in, fidgeting with her hair and putting the cup down on the table. The guards stopped behind her. Ashley looked at the cup and then up at Miranda with a questioning look. She sniffed and let out a snort.  
“Did you just take a shower?” she asked incredulously.  
Miranda frowned and blushed slightly, clasping her hands behind her back.  
“Why would you say that?”  
“Because I can _smell_ it. You smell fresh. I know, because I spent three days in a cell with my own filth. Did my odor bother you or what? Are you in a hurry? You look like you’re going on a date. Don’t let me hold you back.”  
Miranda snorted in disdain.  
“That’s absurd. It’s the long trip and the planet— Ah, well, it’s none of your business.” She sat down on the corner of the table. “Now. Can we get back on the subject? Are you ready to tell me about your mission now?”  
Ashley narrowed her eyes and looked over her and the goons.  
“What, they gonna beat me again and you ask the questions? And I can drink a cup of water as a reward? That’s the strategy?”

Miranda looked at the guards and then back at Ashley.  
“Of course not.” She nodded to one of the men who stepped behind Ashley. “He’s gonna uncuff you, they leave, you drink your water and then we talk.” The guard stopped and waited until Miranda stared at Ashley. “Can we make a deal, or will you try to make it harder for all of us?”  
Ashley kept quiet for a long time, sizing them up with narrowed eyes and a faint smirk in the corner of her lips. She blinked once and exhaled.  
“Fine. Let me drink that fucking water.”  
Miranda looked at the guard and gave a curt nod. The man leaned forward to uncuff Ashley’s hand. After that, things happened so fast, that Hope had a hard time following the events and needed several seconds to reconstruct the scene.

As soon as Ashley’s hands were free, two things happened at once. She kicked the table, flipping it over, which sent Miranda falling against the second guard and the two of them going down in a tangle of limbs. At the same time Ashley slammed her head back right into the face of the guard still bent over to collect his handcuffs. There was a crack of bones as the man’s nose gave up, and he staggered back with a grunt, clasping his bleeding face with both hands.

Ashley was on her feet and kicked back the chair with a hard heeling move into the guard’s torso and she spun, leaping at him already, lifting one leg and planting the sole of her foot right into his abdomen, slamming him into the wall. He dropped like a ragdoll.

By the time Miranda crawled off the guard and he climbed to his feet, his partner was out cold. He needed to jump over the upturned table which gave Ashley enough time to close the gap and be inside his reach, shouldering him back against the wall. She parried his hand away easily and punched him in the jaw. They both went for his sidearm, and it became a struggle of short grunts, elbows and knees, groans, twisting arms and wrists, eerily quiet, nobody speaking or screaming.

When the guard had Ashley in a grip around her throat, standing behind her, she lifted the gun up, both their hands around the grip, and it was dancing dangerously in front of them, aiming roughly at Miranda. That put the guard in an awkward position, as he wouldn’t want to shoot his superior officer and had to stop Ashley from pulling the trigger, while Miranda was slowly standing up against the wall, staring at them with wide eyes, trying to get away from the gun. When she tried to make it towards the door, Ashley managed to pull the trigger and blow a hole into the wall right in front of Miranda, forcing her to stagger backwards.

Miranda tried to edge towards the unconscious guard, but while choking in the man’s grip and elbowing him in the stomach, Ashley still managed to point the gun at her again, which made Miranda froze. Ashley was a fierce sight, white teeth bared, the cut on her lip bleeding again, tangled black hair hiding her eyes, her body tensing up in the tight grip.

And then, when she saw that Miranda was not going anywhere and she was safe, she yanked the gun down, twisted in the squeeze and fired a shot downwards, just past her calves, into the foot of the guard. The man roared, and Ashley slipped free, dropping to the ground onto her back, facing her enemy and shot him in the chest a few times.

By the time he crumbled to the ground, Ashley was on her feet, kicking the upturned table towards the door to block it. Keeping the gun pointed at Miranda, she ran to the first guard to grab the keys, not even looking at her.

When she got the keys she stepped to Miranda, who had her back against the mirror still staring at her with wide eyes, trying to figure out what’s gonna happen. She got a slap on her face, making her cheeks turn red and she lifted a hand to touch where it hit. Ashley snapped the handcuff on her lifted wrist and gave her a yank to turn over, pinning her face to the mirror.

Hope saw as Miranda looked through the mirror, knowing she was there. It was creepy how she almost exactly looked at her. She gave a short nod to Hope before Ashley pulled her away, the other half of the cuff on her own left wrist.  
“What are you doing?” Miranda demanded, when she realized they were cuffed together, but Ashley just twisted Miranda’s cuffed hand behind her back and gripped it tight, keeping Miranda in front of her.

“Shut up!” Ashley hissed and pressing the gun into Miranda’s back they made their way towards the door, just as it got kicked in by two other guards. They stopped as soon as they saw the situation. “Back off! Now!” Ashley yelled at them, twisting Miranda’s wrist painfully upwards, that made her hiss and her back arch, pushing her chest out.

The guards backed away into the corridor, guns trained on them, but they let Ashley make her way around the table and out into the corridor. She stayed by the wall, keeping Miranda firmly between her and the men and started to strafe to the right, along the wall.  
“Stay there or I put a hole in her!”  
“You won’t get out of here alive!” Miranda hissed with gritted teeth. “They won’t let you get away.”  
Ashley shrugged.  
“Well, everybody’s usefulness comes to an end, then.” Ashley chuckled. “Starting with you.”  
She reached the corner, and peeked out in both directions. She saw more space on the opposite side, which meant she had to push away from the wall and edge closer to the corner.

The guards kept following them slowly. They stopped when Ashley stopped just in front of the corner.  
“Drop your guns, boys and walk away.” Ashley hissed. The Cerberus men did not move. Ashley was weighing her options, when a third man appeared, walking out of a room behind the men. He seemed to be in charge. “Tell your men to drop the weapons!” Ashley warned.  
“I will not,” Captain Stills replied calmly, hands behind his back, stopping between his men.  
“See? They won’t let you get away.” Miranda whispered calmly, but her eyes were glued to the guns pointed at her. “Give it up.”

“Then it will get messy, captain!” Ashley shouted. “Nobody will win! If you let me leave now, nobody else needs to get hurt!”

Stills chuckled, giving her a sadistic grin.  
“But you have our agent. And we can’t let her get taken. She might talk.” Miranda gasped and suddenly became very tense, pressing back against Ashley. The marine sensed the powers shifting.  
“Fuck,” she hissed and dove behind the corner, yanking Miranda with her at the exact second the guns started firing.

She heard Miranda yelp in pain and stagger into her, both of them tumbling behind the corner. Ashley started to back down the corridor fast, half dragging her limping hostage with her. The men started to turn around the corner, but Ashley peppered them with a couple of shots, forcing them to jump back. She heard the captain yell not to let them get away.

The corridor ended in a bridge that ran across a couple of minecar tracks, one automated train slowly chugging along just below them. Firing a few more shots at the corner Ashley pulled them to the railing.  
“You either jump with me or you’ll be cushioning my fall,” she warned Miranda, who snapped her head back and glared at her in surprise.  
“Wh-what?”  
“You heard me. Climb over,” Ashley snarled and lifted her leg over the railing already, letting off shots towards the corner now and then.  
“You’re insane.” Miranda protested but one more painful twist of her arm convinced her to climb over, using one hand to steady herself.

Aiming her gun at the guards, Ashley looked down and watched the empty ore cars roll along and counted in her head.  
“One... two... three... Now!” she counted and jumped and down they went.


	2. Fugitive

Ashley and Miranda landed in the empty car with a loud thud, and slammed against the wall as the train slowly chugged along. Miranda cried out in pain and dragged Ashley down on top of her when she lost her footing. Shots rang around them as Ashley pushed herself up, glaring down at her hostage, their faces inches from each other. Miranda seemed flustered, hissing painfully but blushing under the marine’s glare.

Ashley didn’t have time to worry about it at that moment. She pressed herself back against the side of the car and shot back towards the bridge, forcing the Cerberus goons to duck. She kept them at bay until the train cleared the bridge and started to disappear into a hole in a metal wall.  
“Great! Now we’re screwed!” Miranda hissed, grimacing painfully as she tried to find a comfortable position to sit in. Ashley looked at her.  
“I’m screwed either way. How much worse could it be?”  
The train slowly screeched to a halt. Trapdoors opened above the front cars with loud bangs.  
“I don’t know—” Miranda shrugged sarcastically. “How about a couple of tons of raw ore?”

About a dozen cars before them, the loading tubes started to empty their content into the cars, hundreds of head-sized or bigger chunks of rock filling the ore cars in a deafening, deep rumble. Miranda tried to cover her ears, but handcuffed to Ashley she couldn’t protect herself well enough. Both of them grimaced at the unearthly sound.  
“Come on!” Ashley shouted and started to climb over the edge to the next car behind them. Miranda followed clumsily, and it took Ashley a couple of minutes of frustrating tugs and impatient glares to realize that the Cerberus agent’s leg was bleeding from a gunshot wound, probably since they fired at them in the corridors.

It was a race they were quickly losing as the mine train moved along five cars at a time. Ashley looked over the side of the cars to see if they could jump off, but they were on an elevated track. Even if they managed to get off safely, they wouldn’t be able to climb back in.  
“Wait!” Ashley yelled when the loading stations finally caught up with them. She pulled them up to stand between cars, one leg on each car. The train stopped for the loading. Their car was under the last loading bay, Ashley nodded upwards, holstering the gun on her belt. “Jump and catch!” She shouted at Miranda. “One, two... now!”

They jumped, grabbing the frame of the loading dock, and hung on for dear life as the trapdoors slammed open on both sides with loud, metallic bangs, but it was nothing compared to the rumble of the lumps of ore that started to fill the car.

Miranda pressed her lips thin and clung to the frame desperately. She glanced to the side and saw that Ashley was watching the loading process. Miranda took the opportunity and wrapped her legs around Ashley’s thighs and let go with her left hand to reach around her waist and grab the gun. Ashley yelped in surprise and started twisting her hip, swinging her legs to the side to try and keep the gun out of Miranda’s reach, while avoiding the falling rocks and hold on to the frame.

It was getting harder, their combined weight straining her arms. After a quick struggle Ashley let go with her right hand, both of them now hanging by their cuffed hands and she started to slap Miranda’s hand away from the gun. The Cerberus agent was surprisingly flexible and fast with her hands, but she could not match Ashley’s strength. With a couple of parries and some legwork she managed to hold off Miranda, but they were reaching an impasse fast.

Finally Miranda’s hand slipped and she fell, pulling Ashley with her and they fell back into the next empty car just as the loading finished. They got up on their feet as the automated train moved the next five cars into position, and glared at each other for a few long seconds, fists raised. They were covered head to toe in thick, black dust, the whites of their eyes and teeth glowing in the dusty air.

Ashley looked up as the train ground to a halt again.  
“Fuck!” she hissed.   
“Get out of here!” she yelled at Miranda and they both grabbed the top of the car and scrambled up frantically, the trapdoors opening again with a loud bang just as their legs cleared the car. They fell into the other car, on top of rough, sharp rocks. Their painful yelps were drowned by tons of rock falling into metal cars.

“You almost got us killed!” Ashley moaned as she tried to sit up with minimal pain, clinging to the side of the car and dragging Miranda with her not too carefully. Miranda cried out indignantly as she half-fell against the side of the car.  
“Was worth a shot,” she gasped. She didn’t even convince herself.

They both held onto the car to catch their breaths, hissing and grunting painfully. They tried to find a comfortable position and assess the bruises and cuts suffered from the dive. It wasn’t easy to see the damage under the layer of greasy, sooty dirt that clung onto their clothes and skin.

As soon as Ashley was sure nothing was broken and the discomfort was bearable, she lifted her gaze to Miranda and took a breath to continue chewing her out, but then she noticed movement out of the corner of her eyes. She turned her head and saw a catwalk around the loading chutes that went along the walls and disappeared into a control room. Two men were rounding the corner, wearing vests and helmets.

Ashley ducked, and pulled Miranda with her. There was little space on the pile of rocks, they had to lay down close to the wall to avoid getting spotted. Soon they were lying on their sides, Ashley spooning Miranda from behind, pressing her to the wall. She clasped her hand over the Cerberus agent’s mouth in case she tried crying for help. Looking over her hostage’s shoulder she watched the men approach.

The train started moving again, pulling the last batch of empty cars under the chutes. In the relative quiet Ashley could hear their voices.  
“I’m telling you, man, I saw something move down there!” one of them said nervously.  
“Nah, it looks clear,” the other said annoyed. “What’s the fuss, anyway?”  
“You saw the memo. Bosses said if they catch freeloaders, they’ll dock our salary for letting them slip through.”  
“Yeah yeah yeah,” the second man grumbled but they both leaned over the railing to check out the cars just in case. The chutes started belching out the next round of rocks in an explosion of sound, drowning out the rest of their conversation. After a while they gave up and went back, mostly to get away from the noise.

Ashley watched them make their way back to the control room. She returned her attention to their own situation and noticed only then, how placid Miranda became. Ashley first thought she passed out, but when she checked, she saw Miranda’s eyes were open, looking at her from the corner of her eyes. She was lying very still, surrendered under Ashley’s grip, breathing evenly through her nose. She did not try to fight Ashley or pull away. She even seemed to relax, lean her back against her. She could distinctly feel the curve of Miranda’s buttocks against her lap.

Ashley frowned and looked at Miranda again, but she didn’t move, just blinked at her. Ashley had the impression that despite the rocks, the dirt, the sound and the bruises, the Cerberus agent was quite comfortable. That was when she realized she was holding Miranda’s waist with her other hand. Only to keep her pinned down, but still, suddenly it was just a little bit too snug. She pulled her hands away from Miranda’s waist and mouth and looked away, keeping an eye on the control room.

Miranda still didn’t move and let out a soft sigh, but Ashley tried to ignore it.  
“Keep still,” Ashley warned her until the train started moving again, this time pulling away from the loading station and slowly started to pick up speed. As soon as they were out of visible range, Ashley shifted, pulling a little bit away from Miranda.  
“We can sit up now.”

They sat awkwardly, their back against the side of the car, looking forward, their legs pulled up, Miranda on Ashley’s left as the handcuffs allowed. The Cerberus agent was glaring sulkily at her. If those blue eyes could kill, Ashley would probably have several holes burned into various parts of her body. Ashley was not impressed, however.

“You can stop looking at me like that. You were the one who almost got us killed back there.”  
“And jumping off a bridge was what?” Miranda shot back.  
Ashley shrugged, and pulled her knees up, letting the tense silence settle between them as the train clattered along slowly. She tried to think, plan her next move, but her attention was drawn to Miranda, who tried to examine her leg, where a bullet scraped her. She was shifting uncomfortably on the rocks, hissing and cursing under her breath, trying to stretch and twist her legs to see it better through the dirt. 

There was some blood, but the wound didn’t seem too deep. The dirt was more cause for concern. If not cleaned properly, it could get infected. Miranda tried to position her left arm to bring up her omnitool, probably to run some sort of a diagnostics software. Although the Cerberus agent seemed more concerned for her health, than escaping, Ashley couldn’t take the risk.   
“Give me your omnitool,” Ashley said, holding her hand out, trying to look stern. Miranda glared at her in surprise, her expression quickly changing into defeat. She clenched her jaw and held out her left arm for her until Ashley detached the tool, trying to look unfazed while Miranda looked like she just signed her death sentence. The silence grew longer and Miranda returned to studying her wound.

The ore train was approaching a marshalling yard. It clanked through switches and snaked up a slope, where it slowly ground to a halt. They both looked up and peeked out over the rim curiously. The railyard sprawled out below them, in a wide valley between rust-colored, rocky cliffs and slopes. The sky was also red, blanketed in thick clouds and dust. At one side of the marshalling yard, at the foot of the cliff walls a station building was visible, half-dug into the rock wall.  
“There!” Ashley pointed at the building just as the train lurched under them and slowly started to crawl backwards. “What the...?”  
Miranda frowned and stretched her neck to look back the way they came from.  
“We’re on a slope.”  
“So what?”  
Miranda rolled her eyes.  
“They are sorting the cars, see?” she pointed at the end of the train, where several cars started to accelerate, separating from the train. “The ore will go to different refineries.”  
Ashley nodded. They could ride the cars to the yards, but she was worried the stopping would not be entirely pleasant and it would just take them farther away from the station.

“Then this is where we get off,” Ashley said and started to push herself up.  
“I’d rather stay.” Miranda said, trying to fold her arms.   
Ashley tugged at the cuffs. “I don’t think you want to be in this car, when it stops. You don’t have a choice anyway.”  
Miranda reluctantly followed, stretching her cramped limbs and clambered over the edge with Ashley, dropping a few feet down next to the rails. Knowing that the landing will be hard for Miranda, Ashley caught her arm and held her up to ease the impact on her injured leg. She did it by reflex, but the Cerberus agent seemed surprise and leaned on Ashley for a few extra seconds, looking confused and grateful.

Miranda nodded her thank you and pulled herself straight, looking around.  
“Must be somebody around,” she remarked.  
“Yes. And we need to avoid them, so let’s stay in cover.”  
Miranda snorted. “Why, you think I’ll ask for help and my people will know where to find me?”  
“No. More worried about what they would want to do to us,” Ashley smirked. “And then when I would be forced to kill them, _then_ your people would know where we are.”

Miranda fell quiet, too tired to argue, so she let Ashley lead them from cover to cover, across the marshalling yard. When an impossibly long train crawled across, forcing them to wait, seemingly until eternity, Ashley had an idea and switched on Miranda’s omnitool before throwing it on one of the cars passing by. She looked at the Cerberus agent with a triumphant grin, and enjoyed the cold stare she received in exchange.

Eventually the train passed and they made their way to the station. They didn’t see or meet anyone, and the place seemed abandoned. The control room was gutted, and barely anything was left behind.   
“We must have missed something,” Ashley frowned, trying to hide her disappointment that she couldn’t radio for help. She looked out the window and searched the area. From this vantage point, the whole marshalling yard was clearly visible, way better than from the train on the slope. 

She noticed a much sturdier, newly-built control tower at the mouth of the valley, on the other end of the railyard and snorted.  
“Of course,” she chuckled. “We came from the wrong direction.” She looked at Miranda with a smirk. She could tell the Cerberus agent made her own observations and maybe knew more about their environment, but she was obviously not going to make Ashley’s life easier.

Soon they went back to the main entrance hall, where large metal doors closed off the back section of the station. Based on the layout, that was already underground, cut into the cliff wall, sealed with some mining company’s logo. A couple of shots short-circuited the locks and they could push the doors open enough to slip through.

Ashley quickly found the power switch and managed to activate the dim emergency lights. They were in a big meeting area, empty food stands and small shops along the walls. The place seemed to be abandoned for years.  
“What are you looking for anyway?” Miranda asked impatiently, after Ashley checked a couple of stores randomly.  
Ashley looked back at her with a smirk. “If you don’t already know, you’re not that smart.”  
“Or you are making dumb choices,” Miranda retorted.  
Ashley grabbed a bag from one place, and raided the abandoned stalls for anything useful. They didn’t find any food though.  
“There,” Ashley pointed when they finished, and started walking towards a door, dragging a reluctant Miranda with her.  
“It might help if you would share some information with me, you know” ,Miranda said.  
“I bet.”

The door read: STAFF ONLY

Ashley kicked the door in unceremoniously and they marched into a locker room area, where miners used to change into their working clothes at the beginning of their shifts and clean up at the end of their day.  
“Get it now?” she grinned at Miranda. “I thought you might like to get a shower. You don’t smell that nice now.”  
“I’m surprised you can smell it through your own stench.”

Ashley chuckled, amused at Miranda’s irritation. They could tolerate the dirtiness until they were trying to survive, but now that they found a place resembling civilization and the chances were getting better for a shower, it became a growing source of discomfort and the need to get clean a sudden urge. They could at least agree on this, and Miranda helped with the search.

They started opening lockers, Ashley kicking them in with seemingly effortless, but very powerful moves. They found a couple of overalls, shirts and even some towels. Ashley showed them to Miranda with a triumphant smile, and for once, Miranda shared her enthusiasm.

They hurried to the showers, and impatiently started opening the taps. Even cold water would do—except there was no water in the pipes. Miranda let out a frustrated growl, kicking the pipes angrily.  
“Damn,” Ashley sighed, her shoulders sagging. She was looking forward to the shower. They stood in the middle of the bathroom, looking around and then at each other in defeat.

Miranda let out a frustrated growl, throwing the clothes at Ashley. “This is just great! Now we’re stuck who knows where, looking like we crawled out of a coal mine! Eugh!”  
“Relax!” Ashley snapped, grabbing the clothes with her right hand. In a blink of an eye both realized what this meant. Miranda leaped, Ashley tried to throw her off, and they tumbled to the ground, growling and grunting, rolling over each other to grab the gun.

After a few seconds, Miranda managed to get a good grip on the gun and accidentally pulled the trigger. The bullet ricocheted off the tiled floor next to Ashley’s thigh. Lying on top of the marine, Miranda pushed herself up on one hand and pointed the gun at the other woman’s head.  
“Come on,” Ashley said calmly. “You can’t win this. You need me alive.”  
“Well then, better do as I say. I’m not as good with my left hand. I might accidentally hurt you.”  
“No, you won’t,” Ashley declared.  
“Why—” Miranda started, but Ashley was already halfway on top of her, gun in her right hand, pointing it at Miranda.  
“Nice try, though.”

Miranda glared at her, ignoring the weapon in front of her, just looking into Ashley’s eyes. The Cerberus agent seemed to be blushing under the layers of dirt. Probably from the frustration, Ashley thought. Suddenly, those ice blue eyes opened wide.  
“The water reserve. For the fire hydrants!”  
Ashley frowned.  
“What about it?”  
“Mines like these collect water into large, independent reserves in case there’s a fire or they need to flood shafts.”  
Ashley narrowed her gaze. “And you know this, how...?”  
Miranda looked up at her baffled.

“Obviously I read about it— What does it matter?!” she protested, trying to push Ashley off of her, pressing her palm against her shoulder, but suddenly less confident, tearing her gaze away.  
Ashley smirked at her discomfort, writing it off as prudeness and almost spilling out personal information that would make her look more nerdy. She climbed off, pointing the gun at her as they slowly sat up, collecting their loot.  
“So where would this water reserve be?”  
Miranda looked around, furrowing her brow as she tried to orient herself. She became more confident by the second, facing a problem she could solve.  
“Apparently this was a station and barracks for the people who built the rails and the shafts for the mining machines, and they abandoned it after they finished. But all the security and backup caches should be in place. The water reserve has to be on this level, above the facilities and the entrances.” She points towards the hall they came from. “It must be behind the main hall, above the elevators.”

Ashley pursed her lips and nodded curtly.  
“Not bad. Let’s go.” she nodded, throwing the clothes and bags to Miranda to carry, so her hands remained free, keeping the gun at the ready.  
Miranda grimaced but fuelled by the possibility of an imminent bath, she started to move, almost dragging Ashley with her. Back in the main lobby behind the metal doors she started to look up at the ceiling, going to the back of the large hall, where the elevators and corridors leading to the mine opened.  
“There!” she pointed up. Above the elevator shafts and staircases there was a huge hole in the ceiling and a few dozen feet above the characteristic bottom of a water-collecting metal tank was visible.

The women eagerly rushed to the staircase and hurried up until it ended in a metal door. Miranda stepped aside immediately and Ashley was quick to shoot the lock mechanism. Then they both pulled the door open and squeezed in. They were on a catwalk that ran along the circular chamber, lit by dim emergency lights. Above them, pipes from the filtering units dripped clear drops of water into a dark, smooth pool. 

Miranda let out a relieved sigh and almost giggled in excitement and looked at Ashley. For a few seconds they exchanged glances, and then Miranda frowned and Ashley cleared her throat.   
“Fine. So. How about a nice bath?” Ashley smirked and produced the keys to the handcuff from her cleavage, tucked into her sports bra. “Are you going to behave now, or do I need to take extra measures?”

“I am willing to make compromises to take a bath,” Miranda replied coldly.   
Ashley chuckled. “That’s not a straight answer,” she said but uncuffed her own wrist and let it slip off her hand. “Go ahead,” she motioned with the gun.

Miranda sighed in frustration but started to peel off her once white outfit, almost too eager to get out of the filthy garment. Ashley pursed her lips as more pale skin was revealed. The Cerberus agent looked soft, but was enviably feminine, she had to admit. Even subconsciously, she seemed to slip out of the clothes in an enticing manner, that probably would have worked on any men in the galaxy. Ashley didn’t even want to think about what she would look like if she would really try to be sexy. She got a glimpse of that when Miranda slipped out of the pants, careful around the wound on her thigh, like she was rolling off a delicate stocking from those curvaceous legs—

Ashley snorted out loudly, that made Miranda shoot her an angry glance.  
“I am glad you enjoy my misery,” she snapped, looking up at her. “I’m normally not spending my time getting shot and beaten up like you, career military type!”  
Ashley blinked, realizing she made a sound. “Take it easy, princess! You’ll survive,” she grinned, and then pointed at her again. “Those, too,” she indicated her underwear.

It was Miranda’s turn to snort. “You don’t think I would let these get wet!” she said indignantly, starting to undo her bra. “These probably cost more, than your monthly salary.”  
“What a waste of money!” Ashley whistled, and watched as the fine fabric fell away. Of course, her breasts were perfectly round even without the bra, and a good size larger than hers. Ashley started to feel jealous that this soft agent could be so smooth and lean and flawless in both shape and skin. There must be a trick to it. The Cerberus agent only got shy when she dropped her panties, trying to cover her sex, which didn’t make much sense to Ashley.

“Suddenly self-conscious?” she smirked.  
“Your turn,” Miranda said grudgingly, but Ashley just shook her head.  
“First you go in.”  
“You don’t even trust me this much?”  
“Did you earn it?”  
Miranda shrugged and stepped to the ladder, Ashley keeping the gun trained at her. When Miranda reached for the railing to step down into the water reserve, Ashley finally saw what she was shy about. The Cerberus agent apparently liked to shave thoroughly, everywhere. Ashley could not suppress a chuckle.  
“Wow, they really did pull you off from a date, huh? Your boyfriend likes the smooth touch, huh? Or is he kinkier than that?”  
Miranda’s glare could have burned through steel.

“I don’t have a—It’s none of your business,” she snapped, and promptly slipped into the water to cover herself, hissing and shuddering from the sudden cold. It didn’t stop her from snapping back. “You spend too much time with men, major. You leer like a true marine,” she said, her voice quivering from the cold. She kept pedalling to keep herself afloat, and started to drift backwards when Ashley motioned her to swim away.  
“And you are too shy in women’s company. Obviously you never shared the shower with a whole regiment,” Ashley smirked, but started to unbuckle her pants, still holding onto the gun.  
“Yes, play the class card Williams, that’s very original. The tough, working class women versus the pampered aristocracy like me, how original,” Miranda continued, seemingly warming herself up by pure hatred. “Did you also grew balls and a penis in basic training?”

Ashley made an amused grimace. “Now you’re getting to it,” she chuckled as she dropped her pants and started to take off her top. She fell quiet while she got out of her shirt and top, but she decided not to push her luck by continuing the conversation. Lawson suddenly got very lively and she didn’t want to risk losing this battle of words. Obviously, this was a strong suit for the Cerberus agent.

She quickly finished undressing, putting the gun down near the ladder as she sat down, dangling her legs into the cold water. She had less curves than Lawson, she had to admit. Not that she was boyish, of course. She was round in all the right places and lean from all the exercise, but she had muscles, and a healthy, toned belly. And she was less thorough with the shaving.

Lawson was floating in the middle of the pool and hiding her mouth below the water level, she was staring at her. When Ashley noticed, she tore her gaze away.  
“I’m beginning to think that you have a crush on me,” Ashley mocked as she slipped into the water, but remained close to the ladder. Lawson started to drift away, starting to wash her face and hair.  
“That’s ridiculous! It’s just—” she shrugged. “Those bruises... I didn’t know...”  
Ashley touched her ribs reflexively.  
“Ah, yes. Cerberus interrogation. Your boys can sure be vindictive when a girl kicks their asses,” she grinned, slipping into the water with a quiet splosh, stretching her arms and legs under water. It felt good to work some of the tension and soreness of the last few days from her muscles.  
“I’m sorry...” Lawson said, wiping back wet hair from her face, which just made her blue eyes more prominent. She seemed at least a bit ashamed.  
“No you’re not, but it’s okay,” Ashley shrugged. “I’ve had worse. You should have seen when the Reaper ship—” She grimaced and suddenly fell silent. They both got busy with soaking the dirt and the pain from their bodies, diving underwater, washing their hair in blissful silence, their gaze occasionally meeting.

Soon Lawson began to shiver and paddle faster.  
“I-I think it’s time to get out now.”  
“You think so?” Ashley teased, swimming back and forth with long strokes on her side of the pool. Miranda was banished to the far end so she could wash in peace without having to watch out for the next inevitable coup by the Cerberus operative.  
“Do I have to listen to a lecture about being a pampered princess before you let me out?”  
Ashley chuckled. Lawson was getting testier ever since they found the pool. Ashley would have thought the prospect of a good bath would be enough to make her relax. Apparently she was wrong.

Ashley shrugged and lazily drifted to the ladder and made a show of getting out, even swaying her hips to show off her shiny wet, athletic shape, just to annoy the other woman. As soon as she was out, Lawson started to make her way to the ladder, too. Ashley picked up a salvaged towel and started to rub herself dry, goosebumps forming on her skin.

She was tempted to stall Lawson from getting out of the water, but she thought she pissed her off enough. She got another icy blue glare anyway, when the Cerberus agent climbed out and had to dodge her to get a dry towel, a much smaller one than Ashley’s. The damn bitch still managed to look beguiling as waterdrops ran down her impossibly round breasts and curvy hips, not to mention running together in her smooth lap, which was involuntarily drawing attention.

She was roused from her thoughts when a beige handtowel covered it up. Ashley blinked, rubbing her hair faster with the damp towel.  
“Now who has a crush?” Lawson mocked and nodded at Ashley’s lap. “I was half-expecting an erection.”  
Ashley frowned. This was not good. She felt the urge to explain.  
“I was just—wondering,” she shrugged, trying to look casual. “How a woman like you could end up working for a terrorist organization, like Cerberus?”  
“A woman like me?” Miranda stopped, covering her chest and dangling the towel down to hide most of her torso.  
“I mean... you’re... I don’t know. I wouldn’t peg you for Cerberus if I saw you...” she was hopelessly getting herself deeper into trouble. “Never mind,” Ashley sighed, hoping to leave it at that.

Sadly for her, Lawson seemed irritated ever since they undressed and now she was on the offensive.  
“What? If you saw me naked?”  
Ashley shrugged. “On a beach. Whatever.”  
“So I’m too pretty to be a terrorist?”  
“Look, I get it. I was judging by looks. You got me.” She opened her arms in a sign of defeat, forgetting she was still naked. “I wanted to say... sophisticated.”  
Miranda raised an eyebrow, opening her mouth for a retort that didn’t came, so she started to rub her hair with the tiny towel, rolling her eyes in disapproval.  
“And now you’re judging me!” Ashley went on determined. “You’re obviously not a field agent... or very new at this. You’re wasting your talent.”  
“My talent?” Lawson pulled away the towel and struck a pose with tightly closed legs but tilted hip and spread arms, presenting herself like a cabaret dancer. Even her breasts seemed to sway angrily. “And you got that by staring at me naked?” Lawson asked, looking around. “In a dim water tank, cold and wet, on the run, holding me hostage.” She shook her head slowly.

Ashley was ready to let it go, but the last gesture made her clench her fists.  
“Prisoner, actually,” she snapped. “And I was trying to pay a compliment of sorts. Sorry for thinking there’s more to you than supremacist bullshit.”

The Cerberus agent was bending down to pick up her underwear, but Ashley quickly swiped her leg and the dirty outfit along with the black panties and bra fell into the water. Miranda gasped, straightening up and staring at Ashley.  
“Oh, that was very mature!” she snapped, her hands on her hip. Ashley stepped into an overall she scavenged, and pulled it up to her waist before reaching for an undershirt.  
“Don’t flatter yourself, I meant to do that anyway,” Ashley smirked. “I can’t have your people search for us with chemical tracers.”

Lawson blinked, still clutching the towel to her chest, now slightly shivering.  
“Yeah, I bet you didn’t think I would think about that. But this is a mining world, so chemical detectors are everywhere for security anyway. It’s fair to assume if Cerberus has a cell here, they could hack into the system and try to find us. They probably tagged me while they were beating the shit out of me and you would have something on you for safety. Right?” Ashley pulled on the undershirt and then zipped up the rest of the overalls, looking pretty convincingly like a local worker, with a size too big clothes. “Sadly, your underwear had to go.”

Miranda remained quiet, not moving, just glaring daggers at Ashley.  
“So. We are on Terra Nova, right?” she asked casually, and nodded when the Cerberus agent narrowed her eyes. “Good. Then I could be out of here in less than 48 hours.”

The Cerberus agent seemed disappointed as she tried to cover herself with the tiny towel, that managed to look like she was teasing Ashley by just not hiding enough curves and soft spots, and perky nipples and smooth valleys.  
“Good, you guessed it. Now. Can I get some clothes to dress, please?”

Ashley nodded towards the pool of water. “Throw in the towel, too.”  
Lawson rolled her eyes, making Ashley chuckle. She could have waited with the towel, but she was having fun making the Cerberus bitch annoyed.

The towel fell in the pool, drifting away with the rest of the outfit. Miranda folded her arms across her chest, defiantly not covering up herself any more. She squared her shoulders and struck a pose, tilting her hip.  
“I think you leered enough, Major Williams. You are a true marine, glaring at bimbos way out of their league. If you had your fun, I would like to have something to wear, unless you want to prance me around naked like a trophy all the way to Scott City.”

That seemed to work, Ashley shaking her head clear and throwing Miranda a bag, maybe harder and higher than she should have, that gave another glimpse of Lawson’s shape and breasts. Ashley quickly pulled herself together, focusing on the task ahead. She kicked her clothes into the pool as well, then grabbed her gun and the rest of their loot.

She waited impatiently until the Cerberus agent pulled on the pants, shirt and a jacket that said MAINTENANCE at the back. To Ashley it seemed that although the other woman was pissed off at her enough, she still managed to dress up very slowly, but maybe that was just because she couldn’t dry herself enough with the tiny towel. In the end she didn’t look at all like a maintenance worker. She looked clumsy and awkward, and less sexy for the first time. The pants were too baggy and the arms of the jacket too long. Somehow she made it look charming in a girl-next-door way.

Ashley shook her head again. She didn’t understand how this was possible or why she bothered to notice these things about her prisoner. Maybe she was jealous that Lawson could look feminine in almost every situation, and still manage not to look weak and frail. Maybe that’s why her words stung when she compared Ashley to men. Maybe she was behaving like a testosterone-filled meathead. Or maybe it bothered her that Lawson thought she was way out of Ashley’s league.

Lawson may not be clever enough on the field to survive or adapt, but she was dangerously smart and witty. Ashley had to keep this in mind. It also baffled her, that when they got into an argument, she was left speechless, unable to reply with a proper comeback. She could usually stand her ground when it came to friendly banter between marines and she was certainly familiar with the macho stuff the guys threw at her, but with Lawson... she was too high-brow for her. Too sophisticated.

Ashley growled, brushing away these thoughts, but it was already too late. She was pissed at the smart bitch for ruining her groove. She had to take back control.

As soon as Lawson was finished buttoning up her jacket, Ashley stepped closer and cuffed her wrists together in front of her and grabbed the chain.  
“Let’s go,” Ashley snarled as Miranda stared surprised at her wrists, that turned into a smirk.  
“Sure. You’re the boss,” Lawson said sarcastically.

Ashley yanked at the chain and started to make their way back to the old control room. Outside it started to get dark.  
“Yeah, you won’t be that cocky in Alliance custody,” Ashley snapped back, against her better judgement.  
“We both know it won’t happen.”  
“Really? Why?”  
“Because Cerberus won’t let me get captured and interrogated by the Alliance. They either catch you, or they make sure I won’t talk.”  
“Yes, I saw they were willing to shoot you, when I escaped. Why are you even still standing with them? Some loyalty...” she shook her head.  
Miranda shrugged. “I would have done the same. They are just doing their job.”  
“Yeah, keep telling that to yourself,” Ashley snorted. Meanwhile they reached the control room. In the twilight they could still make out the railyard. It was all quiet.

“Why is it that when an Alliance marine is loyal it’s heroic, but when a Cerberus agent does it, it’s despicable terrorism?”  
“Because that’s what you are!” Ashley snarled, stepping very close to Miranda, their noses almost meeting. Miranda leaned back just a little so she can focus on her face. “You are a slimy bunch of fanatics. Yes, your men are loyal and they won’t talk, but how? They kill themselves to protect secrets that are crimes against the rest of the galaxy! That’s low. The Alliance has principles. What do you have?”  
Miranda blinked, and her lips twitched into a smile. This was easy. She led the argument into familiar territory, where she knew the answers by heart.  
“We believe, Major Williams. We believe in the greatness of humanity. And it may shock you, Ashley, but we believed in Shepard. More than that: we _believed_ Shepard. We believe it wasn’t the geth that destroyed the Normandy. We believe in the Reaper threat.” She paused, suppressing a victorious smile as she saw Ashley’s face get clouded. “Can you tell the same about the Alliance. Or the Council for that matter?”

There was a heavy pause, as Miranda finished, delivering the final blow, searching Ashley’s face, who frowned and her expression betrayed her turmoil.

And then she punched Miranda in the jaw with a clenched fist. It surprised the Cerberus agent, her head snapping to the side, and she staggered, falling against the gutted switchboard table. She hissed and lifted her cuffed hands to her bleeding lips, glaring at the marine with a hurt expression.

“You are naive, Operative Lawson, if you think Cerberus is a force of good. Their methods are unethical, and they taint everything that humanity stands for. They weaken us in the eyes of the Council. You might not see it yet, but you will, and then it will be too late.” Ashley snarled. “I am doing you a favor by taking you to the Alliance.”

Miranda took a long breath through her nose, pressing her lips thin in restrained anger, wiping away blood from the corner of her mouth. _If only you’d knew_ , she thought. But still, this was almost where she wanted Ashley to be.  
“I guess we’ll never know, right? I won’t leave this planet alive as your prisoner, and they will never listen to a Williams.” Miranda snorted. “I guess Shepard died in vain.” There was a pause and she expected Ashley to hit her again. She even winced and narrowed her eyes in expectation, but the punch never came. Ashley seemed to have ran out of steam. “I think I would like to eat something now and maybe get a good nights sleep. I’d like to be in my best shape when they take me out.”

Miranda lifted her wrists to eye level, staring defiantly into Ashley’s eyes.  
“Fuck you,” Ashley growled and pushed Miranda to sit on the floor. She turned away, and stared out at the last rays of sun disappearing over the horizon. It was going to be a long night and she needed to clear her head.


	3. Intruder

Miranda Lawson spent an uncomfortable night in the back of the control room, one hand cuffed to a metal pipe that was massively part of the building, so there was no way for her to rip it out even if she wanted to. She could, of course get out of the cuffs in a matter of seconds, warping the chains with her biotics, or open the lock in a number of ways, but she didn’t. She was right where she needed to be.

Well, almost. She wasn’t _exactly_ planning on getting shot and covered in dirt, taken on a ride in ore cars and stripped naked, then shiver in cold water and generally being cuffed to anyone or anything. Williams was too fast to improvise and took the wrong turns, and missed the getaway path that would have led her to more a convenient escape.  
Miranda had to admit, that the Alliance woman was resourceful on a very basic level and she may not be a cunning tactician but they underestimated her instincts. In retrospect it made perfect sense for Williams to choose this escape, even though it was more gung-ho and dangerous, but this is what you get if they don’t give you enough information before dropping you into a tricky situation.

Miranda was tracking the asari Dr. T’Soni and the drell as they went on a cat-and-mouse game to chase down the Shadow Broker, when The Illusive Man sent her to Terra Nova thinking this case might be relevant to their other agenda. Only nobody knew it was Ashley Williams, one of Shepard’s most trusted companion that got caught up in their net. It was their lucky day: incidentally, getting information from Williams about both her secret mission _and_ Shepard could prove useful. Especially if this Alliance operation had anything to do with the Reapers. If they sent Williams on this mission, it must have been very important. So until there were news on the other front, this was actually a good distraction.

Of course, Miranda needed to improvise. She was fine with improvising, but she was not fine with not having all the necessary information at hand. And she was not fine with not taking a shower since she left Omega. She _hated_ the stench of that place. One shower was never enough to wash away the memory of that filth. Maybe if she had Ashley Williams’ file on her and she hadn’t been distracted with the smell of Omega in her hair, she could have made a better plan.

Still, _basically_ , her plan was still in motion, only some geographical and physical factors changed. She needed to earn Williams’ trust enough so she would try to convert Miranda, and spill enough information in the process so she would get what she wanted.

It was obvious to Miranda that torture was not gonna be efficient enough. Besides, if the Alliance gets wind that Cerberus captured and tortured the _second_ most famous human in the Galaxy, they might step up their game against Cerberus, not to mention having Ashley Williams holding a personal grudge against them would be inconvenient. They might have had to kill her, which would have been a disaster. If everything else failed, the Illusive Man would have wanted to see if Ashley Williams could be groomed to become the next human Spectre. As it was, those bruises Miranda saw on her body were bad enough, but didn’t seem to piss Williams off that bad. 

There was a lot Miranda could learn from this affair.

So she played along, carefully hiding her biotics, made clumsy attempts at turning the table on Williams, establishing herself as not very good at this, but not dumb enough so Williams wouldn’t respect her. Miranda played the vulnerability card, hinting now and then that she was out of her element. Oddly enough, sometimes Williams would get pissed off at her, and that would make Miranda frustrated as well.

It seemed as if her little act was pushing different buttons with Williams than the ones she intended. Miranda knew this act would work on men, but that was different: they would see an easy prey and a chance to swoop in and get her in the sack. Miranda was not going for the sexy effect, she was going for sympathy. Maybe she was overdoing it, she thought, because at times Miranda could swear to that Ashley Williams was jealous of her.

Then came the morning. Williams woke her up not too roughly.  
“Come on, eat and then we move out,” she said uncuffing Miranda from the pipe. She seemed to be in a serious mood, but at least she didn’t seem pissed.  
Miranda blinked and tried to focus, shuffling into a sitting position, stretched her cramped arms and tried to comb out her hair with her fingers. This last effort earned her a barely audible snort and a smirk from Williams.

They ate in silence. Maybe Williams was not mad at her, but any attempt to start a conversation earned Miranda a stern glare.   
They packed up, ready to leave. This time Williams cuffed Miranda’s hands together in front of her with a warning glance. “No more tricks, okay? I’ll just whoop your ass again, and it’s getting annoying.”

Miranda nodded. Ashley Williams was really good at close combat. Without her biotics, Miranda didn’t really stand a chance against her. She was not giving it up easy before—Williams was beating her fair and square.

Leading Miranda in front of her, Ashley led them out of the building and using the trains scattered around the marshalling yard as covers, they started trekking towards the control tower at the mouth of the valley. Ashley must have studied the layout from the old control room, because they stayed in cover and there was no hesitation in her movements. She also took her time and checked their surroundings constantly, like she was moving in enemy territory. With only a pistol in her hand she was still convincing. Nobody was going to surprise her.

Miranda went along reluctantly, and tried to see if she could distract her by talking while they were on the move. It didn’t seem to bother Williams: she kept her attention on their progress, while listening to Miranda.

“You know, I read a lot about you after the Battle of the Citadel. You come from a very pro-human background and don’t seem to be particularly fond of other species.”  
“So?”  
“So you’re not that different from us. You might have just as easily joined Cerberus. Especially after what your grandfather had to go through at the hand of the Alliance.”  
Ashley snorted. “Yeah, but I didn’t. And it’s not like I haven’t heard everything said about my grandfather. So if this is your attempt to piss me off, you’ve gotta try harder.”  
“I am not trying to piss you off,” Miranda shrugged as they crouched behind a car. At Ashley’s signal, they jumped up and ran across a couple of tracks, catching a shunting train and walking in its cover for a while. Miranda continued after they stopped behind another ore car. “Just making an observation.”

“Yeah, right. Bet you never heard of me until we took down Saren. Bet you would have had the same prejudice about recruiting me than the rest of them. A shitty outpost is a shitty outpost even if you’re Cerberus.”

She was probably right, Miranda thought. She would have been bad news before. Cerberus probably passed on her file if it ever got to them.  
“Still. Our goals are the same,” Miranda suggested, trying to act as a recruiter. Of course, this Ashley Williams was much more valuable as an Alliance celebrity, than as a Cerberus operative.  
“Even if that would be true,” Williams retorted “our principles are not the same. Neither are the methods,” she nodded at Miranda. “Case in point.”

Before Miranda could try to argue, it was time for another run. They were very close to the tower.  
“Why are you trying so hard, huh?” Williams asked, turning to look at her for the first time since they started the sneaking. 

Miranda tried to look at least a little hurt. “I’m trying to save my ass, that’s why,” she snapped nervously. “I told you: you won’t take me off this planet alive. My people will make sure I won’t be able to talk even if I wanted to.”

Ashley grinned at her. “Don’t you worry about that. The Alliance has a pretty big base in Scott City. We were supposed to get debriefed here,” she nodded towards the tower. “All I need is to find a train that will take us close enough to the city and _my people_ will pick us up.”

Miranda turned her head away. It was a possibility that Ashley would make this move, although it was more likely that she would try to get off the planet. Of course, if this was their return base, it changed the variables... Miranda hated working with incomplete data.

“Yeah, you’re screwed either way. But don’t worry, unlike Cerberus, I won’t throw you under a train,” Williams winked, and darted to the base of the tower, guiding Miranda with her by the arm. Miranda was not too happy with the situation and she let it show on her face, so the marine could interpret it her way.  
“What’s your plan now?” Miranda asked, focusing her attention to the immediate situation.  
Ashley shrugged, seizing up the building, looking for cameras, alarms, people. “Well, get in, get the schedule and find a train that will get us where we want to go. Simple.”

Miranda nodded. Not too sophisticated, but it’ll do.  
“So we wait until—” she started to say, but Ashley already opened the door and they slipped inside. There was an elevator and a staircase leading up. Ashley lowered her weapon, and guiding Miranda in front of her, started to climb the stairs.

“This is a very stupid idea, Williams,” Miranda whispered over her shoulder as she reluctantly walked ahead of her. “We could just wait until there’s a shift change or some other opportunity...”  
“I don’t want to waste time. Your people could find you omnitool any minute and trace it back here. Besides, it’s just a couple of dispatchers.”  
Miranda shook her head. She tried to sound worried instead of frustrated at the marine’s naiveté.  
“You don’t know these guys. Not exactly what you would call civilized. Or law abiding.”  
Ashley snorted dismissively as they reached the top of the stairs and opened a door into a small circular corridor. “It’s just a bunch of fat guys at a switchboard. Relax.”

Miranda was anything but relaxed. Backwater mining operations like these didn’t exactly employ the most clean living and law-abiding staff. They might not even like the Alliance, and although Williams proved she can handle herself, she was not used to handling shady colonists.

By this time they were at the control room door and Ashley confidently tapped it open, pushing the handcuffed Miranda in front of her. She stumbled in and saw two men turning their heads towards the noise. One of them was actually quite fat, the other one scrawny and middle-aged with a face like a weasel’s.

“What the—”  
Miranda flashed a shy, confused smile at them.  
“Alliance business, gentlemen,” Ashley declared with an air of confidence, and so far she had the element of surprise. “This woman is a spy and I need to get her to the city. I need to see the marshalling schedule and get on the next train.”

The men blinked a couple of times, taking in the view. Both women were in miner’s outfit, Williams in overalls, Miranda in maintenance outfit. Their gaze travelled to the handcuffs and then to the gun hanging casually in Ashley’s right hand. Fat Man and Weasel looked at each other then back at them.  
“Something wrong?” Ashley asked when they didn’t respond. “Do you need me to repeat what I said?”

“No,” Weasel replied, breaking their silence. They slowly stepped closer. It wasn’t a big room, and they got too close already for Miranda’s comfort. They were leering at her. Williams may not be used to it, but Miranda knew that undressing stare. “We heard them fine. Do you have some ID to prove you’re Alliance?”  
Ashley sighed.  
“Obviously not. Otherwise I would have showed it to you already. But would I walk in here like this if I weren’t?”  
Weasel smirked. “Yea, Alliance are arrogant like that. But you could still fake it.”  
Miranda tried not to roll her eyes. Ashley however, must have rolled hers, because the men looked hurt.

“Look, if I were dirty, I’d lay low and stay out of sight and not risk blowing my cover. Just tell me when’s the next train to the city and you can get back to your job.”

The fat man edged closer to Miranda, locking his gaze on her chest. The jacket was not exactly small, but it wasn’t big enough to hide her curves. She shifted uneasily on her feet, acting the part. It wasn’t hard though, Fat Man’s intentions were clear from his small gestures.

“Well, we need authorization from our supervisor,” Weasel said with a toothy grin, sizing Ashley up. Apart from the gun, he obviously thought he could take her.

Williams shifted in frustration.  
“Guys. I just need to see the schedule. Don’t make this hard.”  
The men laughed at each other, Fat Man gathering the courage to reach out and touch Miranda’s arm. She pulled away instantly, with a nervous grimace, bumping into Ashley to establish her vulnerability. This earned another laugh from Fat Man.  
“We’ll be happy to help the Alliance,” Weasel said, eyes darting back and forth between the two women. “For a proper reward.”  
“I don’t have money on me...”  
“Of course you don’t.”  
“Guys. I don’t want trouble. Let me see the schedule. I can make some calls and get you rewards.”

Fat Man was reaching for Miranda’s hair with a dreamy expression. She tried to hide her contempt and look disgusted. She pressed against Ashley’s left shoulder to avoid the man’s touch. Weasel’s eyes kept darting around.

“Oh, we don’t need money,” Weasel said with an unmistakable tone.  
“This was a bad idea,” Miranda whispered to Ashley over her shoulder. Williams grunted, it seemed she started to agree with her. She shifted her weight into a casual defensive stance, gripping her gun tighter.

Fat Man laughed at Miranda’s whispered remark, an unnerving, deep laugh.  
“Let’s have fun with the spy girl,” he grumbled. “We’ll call it our reward.”

Miranda shot a glance at Williams and saw that she already knew her plan to bully these guys into compliance didn’t work. She lifted the gun slowly in warning.  
“Let’s get your supervisor on the line, then,” she said.  
“He’s right behind you,” Weasel chuckled.

Ashley turned towards the door, and saw the dark shadow as it struck. As soon as the Weasel replied to her she knew there was trouble, so she leaned away as she turned. The short baton he was gripping slipped off her shoulder and brushed her temple, making her stagger to the side, but at least she stayed conscious and had a chance to fight back back.

While the Weasel jumped for her gun, grabbing her arm and tried to wrestle it away, the Fat Man jumped on Miranda. He didn’t much care about the other guys and Ashley, he was already too focused on his prize.

Miranda started to scream as he groped her chest, hoping the sharp sound would distract someone. Fat Man slammed her against the wall and the force of the impact cut her breath short. Miranda’s hands were pinned between her and the Fat Man’s bulging, soft belly. He went for the prize, ripping open Miranda’s jacket, revealing the white t-shirt she was wearing underneath.

A shot rang out and Weasel screamed in pain, collapsing down on the floor, sitting with his back to the wall, the crotch of his pants soaked with blood. While their supervisor jumped Ashley from behind, the Weasel went in to wrestle the pistol from Ashley’s hand. It was a matter of one twist of her elbow for Ashley to aim the gun down and pull the trigger at point blank range. 

The good thing was that Weasel was going into shock rapidly, shivering uncontrollably. The bad thing was that the pistol slipped from Ashley’s hand as he went down and was now trapped between the Weasel’s back and the wall. It didn’t matter, though, he was out of the fight for good.

The supervisor however, was another matter. It quickly became obvious, that he had some sort of military training. He knew a few of the tricks and moves and he was twice the size of Ashley, that compensated for his lack of advance training that Ashley received.

Meanwhile, Miranda was getting trapped against the wall. She could risk using her biotics and finish the guy with one simple flick of her wrist, but that could betray her to Ashley and ruin her chances of getting her to talk. But this guy was BIG and he was tearing at her t-shirt and her hands were trapped under his weight and it was getting real very fast!

It wasn’t just the odds and his physical dominance, though. Miranda could handle a little roughing up, but the prospect of him ripping her shirt up and baring her chest before groping her breasts made her more uncomfortable than she thought it would. Suddenly the idea of stalling the Fat Man until Ashley finishes off her attacker and then comes to her rescue seemed inadequate. Her rational mind knew that if Williams saves her, she has a chance to show her gratitude and get closer, but with every passing second Miranda got more and more nervous.

She heard the noise of struggle in the control room, the thumps and thuds and groans of hand-to-hand combat, and the whimper of a bleeding Weasel, but she quickly noticed that she was whimpering too, and noises were becoming distant. She realized, with quite a bit of surprise, that she was beginning to panic.

The tearing of the t-shirt was the last straw. She cried out, starting to worm left and right to avoid the greasy hands, sending her breasts jiggling out of her clothes, which was probably what Fat Man wanted anyway. Miranda put her palms together and in the cover of his fat belly, she flared up her biotics just enough to give his stomach a gentle push, to throw him off balance. She hoped the ozone smell of the biotic discharge will go unnoticed in the chaos.

Fat Man lost his balance and took a small step back. That was enough for Miranda to grab for his balls, give it a hard squeeze, sinking her nails into it as much as the clothes allowed it and when Fat Man’s eyes opened wide and he was about to cry out, she head-butted him in the jaw, where she could reach him.

This did the trick, the man stumbled back, freeing Miranda from the wall. She shot a glance at Ashley, who managed to throw the other man off her back and now they were facing each other. It was an even match, Ashley with her skills and him with his size and mass of muscle. It was a blur of dodges and parries and Ashley delivering painful punches that did less damage than she hoped.

Miranda turned his attention back to the Fat Man, who was staring at the blood on his hand he wiped away from the corner of his mouth. He must have bit his tongue hard, because there was a lot of it. Before Miranda could take the time to enjoy her small victory, he was already charging. She barely had enough time to lift her hands up in defense. She stumbled back and to the side from the great swipe of his hand.

She fell onto the control panels, the buttons and switches digging into her back, making her hiss in pain. She pulled her legs up just as he slammed into her again, trapping her on the console. He flashed his bloody-red teeth at her and reached out, but Miranda had her hands up and this time she was putting up a fight. 

Swatting away his hands, she pulled her knees to her chest, pushing him away just a little bit. Fat Man tried to use the momentum to fall on her harder, but he was not expecting Miranda to be that bendy and pull her legs up that fast. The next thing he knew was her legs on his shoulder and her knees squeezing his neck. He was staring at her with a stupid expression and a bloody mouth.

Miranda whined, baring her teeth and squeezed her knees tighter. All sounds were muffled, all she could hear was blood rushing in her ear, and all she could see was a disgusting, bloody face between her legs, his hands blindly groping for her. She grabbed his wrists, trying to keep them away from her throat or her chest, her breasts slipping free of the torn jacket. Fat Man was trapped between a pair of long legs and stared at a pair of swaying globes in front of a desperate female face and he was baffled that he couldn’t do anything.

Miranda on the other hand sunk her nails into his hands, not letting them go, and snarled, squeezing her legs tighter and tighter. She barely realized that she stopped being trapped and that she was the one not letting go. The Fat Man stumbled to the left and right, dragging her across the buttons and switchboards in an attempt to shake her off.

He was also dying. Not from choking, though, but Miranda’s knees squeezed so hard that they closed off his arteries on both side of his neck, stopping the bloodflow to his brain. He grabbed her thighs, trying to part her legs, but Miranda would not let go. She felt his fingers sink into the wound on her thigh, making it bleed again. The pain only made her squeeze harder.

She was snarling and staring at the desperate face as the rest of the world stopped existing for her. Panic gave way to anger once she realized that she was not scared of the man or his touch. She was afraid of his father. The years while she was forced to live with him and the things he did to her until she was old enough to get away—It all came flooding back to her when the Fat Man shot the same leering gaze at her, and it triggered old memories. Fat Man was nothing like his father physically, but the whole situation was familiar. And she was young, and her father was strong. And her sobs and begging only made him more eager.

So Miranda clenched her teeth, not giving him the satisfaction of hearing her beg or cry, even though the burning pain in her thigh was making her eyes water, blurring the sight of his bloody face. She tried to blink the tears away, she wanted to look into her father’s eyes as she squeezed the life out of him like she wanted to every time he forced himself on her.

There was a sudden jerk and she hit her head in something that shocked her out of her bloodrage. They were on the floor, probably slipped down when Fat Man’s legs gave up. He was still above her, but his gaze was empty, blood and drool was dripping from his mouth, and his hands slipped off her legs. His dead weight kept him on top and Miranda kept squeezing and sobbing with clenched teeth from the effort.

And then Ashley was there, pushing off the lifeless body from her and peeling her legs apart. Miranda felt her hand on her shoulder, and she heard her speak, but it was all muffled. She just glared at her with a confused look, jerking her head down when the other woman touched her bloody leg. She tried to pull away with a grunt, adrenaline still flushing her system. Ashley talked to her soothingly and patted her shoulder trying to calm her down.

Miranda’s vision started to clear, the sounds returning and she watched in a haze as Ashley checked the Weasel’s pulse. He was gone, too. Williams retrieved her gun and dragged the Fat Man away from Miranda, next to the other corpse. There was no sign of the third man, but Miranda detected a slight breeze and noticed Ashley’s dark hair almost floating in the wind. One of the reinforced windows was now broken, and Ashley was now standing at the main control panel, checking the manifests at the computer terminal.

Soon she returned to her and tried to look into her eyes while she touched her arm.  
“Don’t touch me!” Miranda shouted, almost hysterically, pulling away and sitting up straighter at the wall.  
Ashley lifted a hand in a calming gesture.  
“It’s over. Come on,” she whispered. She must have met enough shell-shocked civilians in her time to know how to handle her. Guiding her gently by her arm, whispering “it’s okay,” and “everything will be fine,” she made her stand up and guided her out onto the corridor and into the mess hall/lounge next door.

By the time Ashley had her sitting down on a worn leather couch in the corner, Miranda was breathing more regularly. An eerie calm started to descend on her as Ashley left her there to look for a first aid kit. Miranda took deep breaths, and still staring into empty space, she felt her muscles relax, she felt the pain returning to her leg, but it was all fine. Because in her mind, she could finally kill her father.

She let her tears fall. She felt terrible. She felt violated. She felt relief.


	4. Drifter

Ashley returned with a triumphant smile, showing Miranda the medkit she found.  
“I’m gonna fix your leg now,” she said in a soft tone.  
Miranda sat there placidly, eyes unfocused. She felt relaxed and at peace, with a thoughtful expression on her face. Her mind was racing, and the only reason she didn’t smile was that she had to reconsider her life, past and future. In the meantime she also had to process what happened and how to proceed with Ashley Williams. It was hard, because she wanted to make plans for Oriana and her father, and this was a distraction now.

“I’ll have to cut your pants down,” Williams narrated, using a pair of scissors to cut away the fabric from the wound and remove the simple bandage that Miranda improvised after their bath. While she was calculating odds and probabilities, she left the care of her body in the hands of the Alliance marine. “It doesn’t look bad at all,” Ashley said. She worked with practiced ease.

Miranda was barely listening. Her body was slow to react, sore and exhausted from the events of the past day. She was in a pleasant haze, a little dull after the adrenaline left her system and her back started to ache from the fresh bruises. She watched Williams clean her leg and apply cool medigel on the wound before dressing it.  
“I don’t see any more injuries,” Ashley went on, checking Miranda for other wounds, talking just to keep her calm and occupied.

Standard tactics for handling trauma victims, Miranda thought, her rational mind working properly, but she couldn’t be bothered to show any sign of it. It felt good to rest and let it go a bit, let someone else sort it out for once. She tried to pay attention to her words, while pondering what her next move should be. It was absolutely not going according to plan, and not even according to Ashley’s plan. But maybe this unexpected incident will create the bond Miranda was looking for.

“There is a train in four hours that will pass through, with boxcars. It goes directly to the city. A 30-odd-hour ride,” Ashley was saying. Miranda slowly looked up at her face. So she will have one more day on the train to coax the information out of her. Close enough to her original plan. She nodded slowly, just noticing the fresh bruise on Ashley’s cheek where the big man clipped her, a fresh cut above her eyebrow and her lips bleeding again. Her unruly dark hair framed her pale face. Miranda realized she was also upset, she just didn’t have time for a meltdown.

Miranda absently reached out with a hand to wipe away a few drops of blood from her brow that was bothering her. She was still too spent to actually speak, but at least she was focusing on Williams now.  
“It’s nothing. I’m fine. Really.” Ashley muttered, pulling her head away a bit and touching Miranda’s hand to push it down. She let out a long sigh, that she must have held back for a while now. 

Miranda was searching her face, wondering how to start a conversation that would get her somewhere. She knew it could wait until they were on the train, but something, some odd feeling that made her chest tingle also made her want to tell her something. Or at least, show a gesture. She felt it was important, but she didn’t know why.

“I’m sorry. You were right,” Ashley said and Miranda understood. She was feeling guilty because she almost had her raped by a fat pig. Miranda slowly lifted her still cuffed hands to her chest, where it tingled and where she now remembered it was ripped open. She touched skin, but she at least looked decent, covered up. Seeing the gesture Ashley closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “It was a stupid plan, I didn’t—”

By the time Miranda realized what she was doing, it was already too late, and it all made sense. She cupped Ashley’s cheeks and slowly kissed her on the mouth when she opened her eyes in surprise.

Of course! Miranda thought, but she was just as baffled at first. She didn’t plan to do this. This could really backfire and push Williams away from her completely making Miranda’s mission a failure. But she didn’t care. Finally something felt good and she just needed it. She needed exactly _this._

That first touch was electrifying, making her lips tingle. In the first seconds, a hundred thoughts crossed her mind ranging from how convenient this is for her plans, through this becoming a complete disaster and end in humiliation, up to “God, please don’t stop”.

When Ashley froze and stared at her, Miranda felt stage fright. When Ashley pulled away, she felt desperation. She kept cupping Ashley’s cheek and their eyes met. Miranda saw confusion in the other woman’s eyes and she felt Ashley’s hands on her wrist, ready to push her hands away again. She couldn’t let that happen, she was clinging to her like her life depended on it. She softly shook her head, staring into Ashley’s eyes and whispered “It’s okay,” and smiled weakly. “Just let it happen.”

Maybe it was pity or guilt on Ashley’s part, but she didn’t push her away and Miranda was fine with that. She just needed the touch. Miranda leaned forward and kissed her again tentatively, and this time Ashley stayed, frozen, less tense, eyes closing slowly. This time the kiss was softer and shorter, Miranda pulling back to check Ashley’s reaction.

Ashley opened her eyes, looking at her completely lost. Miranda flashed a nervous smile and continued with the kisses. She was cautiously exploring Ashley’s limit, trying to make it feel a bit awkward. Now and then she pulled back and searched the marine’s face for clues.

Then the touches started to last longer, lips parting and tongues exploring. Miranda was not pushing it and Ashley was not rushing into it. Miranda felt that the other woman never did this before, she didn’t know what to do next. Miranda on the other hand was no stranger to female intimacy, making acquaintances with or getting information from high-level diplomats or company executives, career women, through sex if the situation warranted such an approach. She rarely needed to use it, preferring more subtle forms of manipulation, even extortion, but at least with women it was more pleasant, gentler. After she got away from her father, and as soon as she got high enough in Cerberus, she always made sure to stay in control even in the bedroom.

Sure, she would use physical charms to get what she wanted from men, but she made sure they almost never got to third base. Too many bad memories, and not enough control. She knew she was damaged goods and she knew her father would pay for it eventually, but until then, she chose her one night stands carefully.

With Ashley, she could relax. She could lead her, relieve her tension, just as she would with a stressed-out, spoiled businesswoman whose guilt Miranda could easily guide to get both of them off, usually Miranda getting the better end of the deal. She didn’t feel the guilty nervousness from the Alliance marine and she did not feel guilty about playing with her emotions. It was not like she _planned_ this, or consciously started to seduce her. No. She was weak for a second after her near-rape and the adrenaline rush, and then euphoric after she realized she may just have expelled at least some of her demons when she killed her assailant. No. This was her reward, and her way in. And she wasn’t going to let it slip away.

She missed out on the moment when Ashley decided not to stop, but after a while their lips and chests felt hot, and soft, quiet moans were escaping. Ashley’s hands started to travel up Miranda’s arms, Miranda’s legs slowly wrapped around her hips. Miranda leaned back and pulled Ashley down with her onto the couch. At one point she pulled her cuffed hands over Ashley’s head and wrapped her hands around the back of her head, stroking her hair.

This seemed to calm Ashley down a bit and Miranda let out a nervous giggle, and slowly took the lead, shifting her torso to a more accessible position while she started kissing down along Ashley’s jawline and neck, tasting her smooth skin. She felt Ashley’s breathing getting heavier, squirming in the grip of her legs, involuntarily rubbing off on her lap.

“What are we—” Ashley started, but Miranda stopped her by pressing her cheek against the marine’s lip and whispered in her ear.  
“Shh, it’s gonna be fine.”

Miranda twisted her hip a little bit, tilting Ashley off-balance just so that she needed to shift her hand to avoid rolling off of Miranda, and thus accidentally palmed her breast through the torn jacket. Both of them let out a gasp, Ashley in surprise, Miranda in restrained pleasure, craving more, but she needed to hold back, not to scare her away.  
“This is—” Ashley mumbled as Miranda nibbled around her jawline, sighing into her ear.  
“Yes,” Miranda said, not trying to argue, but pressing her chest firmer into Ashley’s palm, letting out a shuddering breath as she felt her breast pressed down, her hard nipple rubbing against the fabric between her and Ashley’s palm.  
“This is not right. You’re in shock. I-I can’t take advantage—” Ashley muttered with fading confidence as Miranda rubbed her thighs on her hip and snaked her torso to grind her lap against her stomach just so that it felt like gravity was pulling her onto Miranda.

“I don’t care,” Miranda moaned with just a hint of impatience in her voice, her lips leaving a wet trail down the curve of Ashley’s neck, burrowing her face in her hair. She knew Ashley was gradually giving in, from the subtle responses of her body – her skin getting warmer and her pulse quickening which she felt up with carefully placed kisses. She needed one last push, and Miranda was getting greedy. She needed this for herself, too, she needed some release. She just needed to play the weaker role for once and give Williams the final push. “Ashley. Please—”

Ashley’s resolve seemed to melt, as she stretched her neck to show more skin for Miranda’s lips, taking in the scent of her body, while finally giving a delicate squeeze to her breast, a sure sign of lust.  
Miranda made a soft gasp as she felt it, stopping the kissing and looking starry-eyed into Ashley’s eyes, taking in a soft breath. “Yes,” she whimpered, squirming her chest under Ashley’s grip. “Please.”

Ashley got the message, peeling off the top smoothly and cupping her naked breast with her warm, callused hand, groping it clumsily. Miranda moaned in relief, closed her eyes and pressed her lips against Ashley’s, her tongue exploring. Her hands sank into Ashley’s unruly hair, fingers tangling with her dark locks, her fingertips rubbing the back of her head.

Finally she broke the kiss with a satisfied sigh and leaned back, pulling Ashley onto her even more, leaning her head back, exposing much more skin. She trembled from anticipation, barely able to refrain from pushing the marine’s head down between her breasts. She needed the release to think straight, but she had to go slow, which was frustrating. She panted heavily, stroking Ashley’s hair and whispering quiet pleas in hope of speeding things up as Ashley slowly explored her neck and edged closer to her breasts.

When those nervous lips started to climb the full curve of her breast, leaving faint, wet trails and washing her skin in hot, ragged breaths, Miranda was already whining. “God, yes, Ashley, please!” and squirmed her shoulder, making her nipple slip up and get caught between Ashley’s lips. It made her gasp and freeze up, throwing her head back and squeezing her legs tighter around the other woman’s waist. She felt like there was a direct nervous connection between her nipple and her clit, an electrifying, tingling thread that almost paralyzed her with pleasure. 

Miranda was trapped, immobilized by a nervous, inexperienced kiss on her breast. Then it became a kind of a blur. She remembered hot, wet kisses, their tongues twirling around each other, she remembered Ashley awkwardly trying to uncuff Miranda’s wrists and Miranda pulling them away with a laugh, saying “No, it’s okay, just leave it,” and then she lifted her hands above her head, out of reach, stretching her torso, thinning her waist and making the jacket fall away from her perfectly round breasts, still giggling.

She stared into Ashley’s eyes, giving her encouragement to leer while the marine pushed herself up on her arms, watching her captive with baffled amusement. Miranda bit her lower lip as she smiled, rocking her body to sway her breasts, then wiggled her hip, shooting a glance down where their bodies met.

She almost purred as Ashley carefully pulled down her cut up pants, which were useless anyway. She frowned as Miranda stretched herself out, rubbing her thighs together playfully, swinging her closed knees left and right to snake her hips, keeping her hands above her head.

Ashley propped herself down on one elbow and let her right hand roam all over those smooth, spotless curves and valleys and mounds, eliciting soft gasps and satisfied moans from Miranda as her fingers brushed over her nipples or her toned, flat belly. Ashley was so lost and preoccupied, she didn’t even try to undress herself. Miranda actually enjoyed the setup, surprising herself, too. Normally this would be too defenseless, too— _naked_ , for her comfort, but this time it did not bring up bad memories. This was new, and she actually felt more in control. 

Ashley’s hand stopped just above her knee on her other leg, making Miranda heave. She looked pleadingly at Ashley. “Please,” she whispered, resisting the urge to reach down and guide her hand to where she needed the most. She gently moved her leg instead, nudging her hand further up along her thigh.

Ashley looked mesmerized, still doubting if she was doing the right thing, but at the same time taken by the sight of the perfect curves of the naked woman under her touch, the way her skin felt, so soft and warm, and the way she was into this. Ashley was starting to feel guilty for taking advantage of her, when she was clearly out of her mind. But it felt too good and she looked so hot and it was not like there weren’t something in the air before. It didn’t feel right but it felt so good. Lawson was temptation manifest and offered her a guilt-free way to let out all the pent-up tension. And God knows, she needed to let off some steam.

Ashley let out a moan and leaned forward, kissing Miranda on the lips and letting her hand slip down her thigh and cup that delicate, bald mound that she wondered about how it would feel to touch. It felt divine, so incredibly soft and smooth, and warm and… God, so _wet_!

Miranda whimpered with delight and ground her damp sex against the cautious palm, working her pussy snugly into Ashley’s hand. “Yes, like that, please!” she sighed, and panted into the marine’s lips, nibbling tiny, wet kisses on and around her mouth. Ashley slipped into a more comfortable position, leaning against Miranda’s side, her right leg pulled up to pin Miranda’s thigh down but also to press her tingling lap against the curve of the other woman’s hip.

She felt Miranda’s juices quickly coating her fingers, the dampness hiding between her slit now rubbing off into a slippery coating, her folds, almost like her mouth, pressing wet kisses onto her fingertips. She involuntarily slipped a finger between those soft lips, sliding in. Ashley was getting dizzy, intoxicated from a woman’s greedy but gentle kisses, while her fingertips started exploring a soft pussy, familiar like the times she touched herself but so strange in its perfect boldness. It was a weird sensation, feeling the heat rising in her own sex but touching another body and yet, knowing what to do with it. What she would do to herself.

Ashley started returning Miranda’s kisses, pressing herself stronger against her, and stroking her pussy with more determined moves now. They were way past the point of no return and if later, when the adrenaline rush was gone Miranda would realize that Ashley took advantage of her, she would deal with the resentment then. Just not now.

But right now, she needed to taste her every curve, feel the muscles in her neck strain as she licked her skin, the softness of her full breast as her lips sank into her flesh, folding in and covering her nose, the scents filling her nostrils, she wanted to feel as her nipple brushed past her lips and into her waiting mouth, sucking it deeper, twirling her tongue around it just as she liked it. Only she never did this before and it felt so great, she had to moan into the squirming flesh under her. She was almost on top of Miranda by now and as she shuffled to get more of Miranda under her, her fingertip slipped inside her effortlessly, almost by accident.

The effect was unexpected and immediate. Miranda let out a long, shuddering, throaty moan and started spasming in pleasure, her cuffed hands flying to Ashley’s head, fingers sinking into her hair and she pressed her down on her breast. She kept on cumming, juices trickling around Ashley’s finger, her hip grinding, working the finger deeper into her quivering flesh. “Fuck, please,” she gasped, holding onto Ashley, shivering. “Don’t… stop…”

Ashley moaned into her skin, feeling her delicate fingers rub the back of her head. She couldn’t stop if she wanted to. She plunged her finger deep into her clenching, wet tunnel, rubbing her walls as she would do it to herself when she was alone, only harder and faster, sucking and biting her nipple. She needed to conquer this body, she needed to defeat Miranda, she needed to… fuck, she needed to fuck her.

Another orgasm rippled through the writhing, naked body under her. Miranda was out of breath, her head thrown back, her legs spread wide, grinding her soaking wet sex off on Ashley’s palm, making a wet mess on the couch. Her hands balled into fists grabbed Ashley’s hair tighter, but more to hold herself together than to force Ashley down. Even with the pulling of her hair, Ashley could easily switch breasts, making Miranda gasp again. She was breathing heavily, her body overheating, a thin sheen of sweat breaking on her skin, her muscles spasming, almost pulling Ashley deeper inside her as she was working her up for number three.

 

“Uhh, please, I need to—” Miranda gasped, unable to finish, but Ashley knew what she needed. She pinned her down, palm pressed firmly against her soaking, hot pussy, the other grabbed her hair to hold her head down and she pinched her nipple with her teeth, tugging it and flicking the hard nub with her tongue until she felt her go again, silently this time, out of breath, quivering, clinging onto her.

Ashley wasn't exactly sure whether she “won” in the end, but it sure felt good to hold a naked body in her arms, feel the heat radiating from her skin, hearing the satisfied sighs from Miranda while she kissed her head and stroke her hair.

They lay there like this for a few minutes, until Miranda caught her breath, silent in each others arms. Ashley became more and more aware about her still being fully clothed. She actually started to worry that Miranda would now realize what happened and with a clear mind, she would flip out on her. She kind of wished she would freak out so things would go back to the animosity they had before, that was simple and clear, but she hoped it would not end here and get more complicated.

The answer came when Miranda, stretching and purring, squirmed away from Ashley and gently rolled on top, straddling her, but pressing her bodies together. “Mmmm, I think you took advantage of your prisoner, major Williams,” she said softly, their noses inches from each other. “I can't let this kind of abuse go without retaliation.”

Miranda's hands slipped to the zipper of her jumpsuit, and started to tug them off clumsily, chuckling nervously. Eventually she had to sit up, licking her lips as she slowly revealed more of Ashley's midriff while giving a good view of her breasts, too. Miranda stopped just above her pantyline and slowly pressed her palms against her belly.  
“Wow,” she sighed, looking up at Ashley, sinking her nails into her skin that made Ashley gasp. “Hard as a rock,” Miranda purred, biting her lips and scraping her nails carefully on her belly.  
“Keep on going, prisoner,” Ashley warned, her breath caught in her throat. Men usually didn't admire her flat and hard assets, focusing on the rounder and softer parts.   
Miranda laughed and ran her palms up her torso, reaching her cleavage with half closed eyes, and started peeling the suit off of her shoulders as smoothly as the handcuffs allowed.

Ashley grabbed her wrists and looked into her eyes. “Let me take these off.”  
Miranda shook her head slowly. “Not yet.”  
She helped her get out of the sleeves and returned to running her hands along her torso, exploring every inch of her. She frowned and pressed her lips together whenever her fingertips reached a bruise or an old wound from some battle or an other. Miranda looked up at her with a concerned gaze, and Ashley blushed a little, shaking her head.  
“It's fine. I'm fine” she replied to the unspoken question, lifting a hand to stroke her arm. Miranda nodded and leaned down, touching her lips to each dark spot or faded wound, breathing soft, warm kisses on her skin that made Ashley sigh quite a few times.

Soon she lost track of the kisses, her eyes closing slowly from the pleasant sensation, and started moaning when the kisses reached her breasts. She was a bit self-conscious since she saw Miranda's naturally round, full breasts, and remembered how good it was to get lost in them, so her hands nervously went to touch Miranda's exploring head. Miranda didn't mind though, pressing her cheek into her palm and kissing her hands, too, before returning to lavishing her attention on her breasts, making Ashley squirm more, pressing her chest out, rocking her hips.

After a while, when she thought she couldn't take it any more, she pushed Miranda down lower, towards her groin, where she felt the heat growing for a while now, and the urge to rub it against something or someone. Miranda looked up at her with a grin as she licked and kissed her way down her ripped abdomen towards her navel, panting like a puppy and scraping her nails on her wet skin again as she slipped lower.

She grabbed the jumpsuit with a growl and started to pull it off and Ashley lifted her hip to help her. Miranda gave her one more glance as she yanked the suit off her legs before falling on top of her, burying her head between her thighs and grabbing her belly with her cuffed hands. Ashley gasped as Miranda went down on her, not going directly for her loins, but attacking her thighs and hip and lap with her lips, moaning satisfied as she tasted her. Kisses travelled over her trimmed patch and out to her hipbone, and she kept squirming as Miranda's lips kept her on the edge, trying to spread her legs and squeeze them tight at the same time. She grabbed Miranda's wrists as they roamed her torso, holding on for dear life, wheezing loudly.

She felt it was time to get rid of the handcuffs, trying to focus on freeing Miranda's hands while letting the pleasure wash over her midsection. It was a heavenly feeling, so warm and wet, gentle but eager, that Ashley struggled to fish the jumpsuit within arm's reach, fumbling a lot and losing focus for a while, when she felt wet lips wrapping around her clit and then a tugging sensation which just made her freeze, forgetting to breathe for a second or two. Before she could collect herself, she felt Miranda’s tongue find its target and a few little flicks was enough to push her over, gasping “ah, fuck” several times, hips spasming as she came. She held onto Miranda’s wrists as her hands groped her breasts until the wave passed, muscles relaxing as she sank back onto the couch.

Miranda looked up, licking her lips with a triumphant smile, her palms sliding over Ashley’s abs as she pushed herself up sitting. Ashley smiled back, composing herself, holding onto one hand while she blindly felt around with her right hand until she found the keys in the jumpsuit pocket.  
“You little—” Ashley sighed, making Miranda chuckle and lean close, shutting her up by pressing her lips against hers. Ashley wanted to pull back by reflex, realizing where her mouth was before, but it was already too late. She tasted herself on the other woman’s lips and her invading tongue. She stared at Miranda wide-eyed, but her eyes were closed, lost in the kiss, and when she got past the initial shock, she relaxed a bit. 

Miranda sat up and held her hands in front of her with a satisfied smile, her arms pressing her breasts together, just to tease Ashley more until she finally uncuffed her hands. Miranda reflexively rubbed her wrists off a bit to chase away the memory of the metal before putting her hands down next to Ashley’s head on both sides and breathing a quick kiss on her lips.  
“I believe we’re not yet even,” she whispered with eyes glinting.  
Ashley shook her head. “No, not yet.”

Miranda bit her lip, their breasts rubbing together, making both of them moan. And then Miranda started sliding down, her lips leaving a warm, wet trail again, hands following slowly after, following her curves until they grabbed her hip and her mouth reached Ashley’s damp folds. this time however, it did not stop there, and Miranda eventually grabbed her buttcheeks with both hand as she licked her open, poking her tongue deeper between sucking her petals, kneading her firm, strong ass eagerly.

When she slipped two fingers between her folds, Ashley was already worked up, grinding her hips, legs pulled up to steady herself, hands gripping Miranda’s head, and panting loudly as she searched the other woman’s face to meet her gaze. Miranda eventually lifted her head, her mouth wet from their juices, and as she pumped her fingers slowly deeper, she looked back at Ashley, her blue eyes sparkling, lips parted, rubbing her breasts against Ashley’s inner thighs, holding onto her leg with her free hand. They moaned together as Ashley came again, Miranda working her fingers through her clenching muscles, riding out her release and quickly building up to the next one, kissing Ashley’s leg, while holding her gaze.

Long minutes later they were lying still on the couch, Miranda still between Ashley’s legs, resting her head on Ashley’s gently rocking belly, fingertips absently tracing the mark of a gunshot wound on side, the other hand resting on Ashley’s chest. Ashley was fiddling with Miranda’s locks, looking down between her breasts to watch her. 

Their eyes would meet occasionally, a pleasant exhaustion on both their faces, and a calm, that replaced days of tension and struggle. They didn’t speak, and only a good ten minutes later did Miranda reluctantly lifted her head and looked at Ashley.  
“I think we need a shower.”  
Ashley nodded. “I bet this place has running hot water.”

That made them more lively, grinning at each other and they untangled, helping each other stand with nervous giggles. They found the shower quickly, and luckily it was tiny and since they didn’t know how much hot water was in the system, they took the shower together, which involved a lot of groping, washing each other with soap and some desperate kissing. 

They dried up quickly and went hunting for clothes to wear. They found some undershirts, pants and jacket for Miranda, and Ashley opted to use the jumpsuit again with a fresh pair of boots and another shirt.

They looted the pantry and the fridge, throwing food into a bag while wolfing down some biscuits, canned food and beer, shooting glances at each other with mouths full, with the occasional nervous giggle. It was good to have their bellies full after a refreshing, hot shower. It was good to eat some _food_ at all.

Ashley was checking the time frequently, and soon she nodded to Miranda.  
“It’s time.”  
These were their first words since the shower, keeping a practical and somewhat awkward silence while they waited for the train. Their little distraction earlier cost them an hour and everything was too fresh to talk about anyway.

They dragged the third dead body inside, hid it under the staircase and Ashley searched for the right track.  
“There!” she pointed to a train slowly chugging in from somewhere deep in the canyons, with a bunch of boxcars near the engine. “That’s our ride.”  
“Will it stop?” Miranda asked.  
“Dunno,” Ashley shrugged. “Let’s not find out. Come on.”

They started running. Catching up was easy, climbing on was much harder. Ashley had their loot in a backpack on her back, and she needed both hands at the ready. She needed to time her jump perfectly to get up between two cars and catch the ladder without falling under the cars. Soon they would be running out of space and cars.

The train chugged along loud and menacingly. They were lucky it had to slow down to cross the yard, as it apparently had no intention to stop. Ashley let the next boxcar pass her by, counted the seconds until the next gap and leaped just one beat before the next ladder approached. She grabbed it with a loud groan, her legs sliding out from under her, and felt a hard yank on her shoulders as her weight suddenly strained her muscles and joints.

Her heart was beating in her throat. She was a trained marine and it took all her finesse to make the jump and all her strength not to fall under. How much chance did Miranda have with her wounded leg? She quickly turned around, hooked her arm into the ladder, got a good foothold on the rims of both cars, and turned back towards Miranda.

The other woman was keeping up, but her expression was desperate. She ran with a little limp, wincing.  
“Come on!” Ashley yelled and leaned out, reaching an arm towards her. Miranda gritted her teeth and with a last ditch effort, she started sprinting and reached for the offered arm. As soon as their hands wrapped around the other’s wrist, Miranda nodded and Ashley pulled.

It was surprisingly easy, Miranda making a huge leap and immediately bracing herself with her healthy leg, balling up as she slammed against the car, grabbing the ladder with her free hand. They were on board, panting and clinging on for dear life, but at least on the train now. They stayed tangled for a short minute, their bodies pressing together as they shared the ladder, Ashley holding most of the weight, but she wasn’t going to let go. Their gaze met and Ashley nodded reassuringly, while Miranda blushed.

Ashley nodded upwards. “Get on top. There should be a hatch where we could climb in.”  
Miranda nodded and climbed up swiftly and painlessly, considering she had to use Ashley as the ladder for most of the way.

By the time Ashley reached the hatch, Miranda was already pulling it open. Ashley looked up, squinting in the draft. The train was leaving the shunting yard, and soon would be picking up speed. They needed to hurry.  
Miranda was already looking in.  
“It’s empty.”  
“Good,” Ashley nodded, “then—”

Before she could finish, Miranda grabbed the edge of the hatch and seemingly fell in face forward, only to make it a graceful flip, lowering herself down and landing on her good leg in one fluid motion. Ashley blinked and mumbled something as Miranda looked up smiling proudly.

Ashley took the less acrobatic way and simply jumped down, landing in a crouch.  
“What was that?”  
Miranda shrugged, looking around.  
“I was number one in gym class. I’m very bendy,” she added with a suggestive tone as she walked to the sliding door on the side of the empty kettle wagon, giving it a tug. “Can you help me with this?”

Ashley blinked in surprise, shaking her head a little in amusement before dropping the backpack and went to help pulling the door open just a little bit to let air and light filter in.

With that done they took another look around. There wasn’t much to see, one corner sporting some hay and empty grain sacks and a broom, but that was all. It was mercifully wiped clean of any residue, only a faint barnyard smell remained.

“Well,” Ashley shrugged and went for the broom. She looked back to see Miranda still standing over the backpack, which held their scavenged food and other commodities, not to mention her gun. Ashley froze for a second, gripping the broom tightly in case she would need it. It was an unnerving sensation, because she knew Miranda was a high-level Cerberus Agent, technically her prisoner, but she was uncuffed and with a gun at a ready access.

It could be a fatal mistake, she would have no chance to get within melee range if Miranda decided to go for the gun. She actually bent down and reached for the backpack, making Ashley tense, planting her foot, unwilling to make the jump just yet.

Miranda picked up the backpack and smiled at her softly. Ashley relaxed, her pulse slowing down but she was still unable to move. Miranda was standing in the patch of light under the hatch, a faint, reddish-yellow glow highlighting her contours, glowing specks of dust floating around her like fireflies. She looked at Ashley with sleepy eyes, now visibly exhausted from all the day’s events. Ashley felt it too, but ignored it until now. At that moment, Miranda didn’t look like a threat at all. She looked like someone way out of her depth and crumpled, but somewhat relaxed.

Ashley smiled back, quickly collecting the straw to one corner, and threw the hemp sacks on them. Miranda stood next to her and watched, trying hard to focus and as soon as Ashley was more or less ready, Miranda put the backpack into her hand and laid down, balling up with a deep sigh.

Ashley watched, her confusion returning: this was the Cerberus operative so high-ranking, they sent her to interrogate Ashley? Was she supposed to be dangerous? This exhausted, fragile, statuesqe woman was an enemy agent? It was almost hard to believe, and Ashley only knew her for less than two days. True, for half of that time, they had a few clashes, and her looks were deceptive. She was certainly… flexible.

Miranda reached up with one hand, eyes already closed.  
“Sleep with me,” she mumbled, and Ashley relented with a sigh. She was too tired to sort it out anyway. She was just a marine. Maybe after a good sleep, she can make more sense of this whole, crazy thing.

So Ashley dropped the backpack next to them and laid down, curling around Miranda’s form, one arm around her waist, face buried in her raven black hair. She let out a deep sigh and close her eyes, falling asleep shortly after, holding her prisoner in her arms.


	5. Victim

Miranda jolted awake to the sound of another train rushing past loudly in the other direction. She instinctively knew it was _long_ , because it took many seconds to pass them and with that speed and that opposing speed the length should be— her eyes popped open and she froze, suddenly very aware of everything without the comfortable transition of waking up. She didn’t feel Ashley behind her. The noises were much louder now that she was awake. And it was much, much hotter.

She collected herself and sat up on her elbow, looking around with what she hoped to be a sleepy enough expression. Ashley was sitting at the side wall, a few paces away, near the door that she opened wider to get more air into the stifling heat of the boxcar.  
“Hey,” she said softly.  
“Hey,” Ashley said. She sat with her legs pulled up, elbows resting on her knees, a canned food in one hand, a plastic spork in the other. She was scraping the last remnants of the food from the bottom of the can. She seemed eerily calm, not too serious but not cheerful either.

Miranda pretended to ignore it, rubbing her eyes and brushing wet locks out of her hair. “It’s pretty hot in here,” she muttered as she shuffled into a sitting position slowly. Warnings were going off in her head, calculating possibilities of how this conversation could go, preparing the appropriate responses.

Ashley nodded. “I prepared some food for you,” she pointed at the floor near Miranda with her spork. “If we ration it out, we should have more than enough for the trip.”

“Thank you,” Miranda nodded meekly, noticing the opened can and spork, with a small bottle of water next to it. She decided to eat the food quietly, giving her more time to gauge Ashley’s mood before striking up a conversation.

Ashley turned her head and looked out over her shoulder.  
“Getting dark soon. I think we’re entering the farmlands. Seem to be some sort of a prairie or something.”

Miranda nodded again, eating with measured moves, sipping her water between bites. Terra Nova was not a friendly place, most of it uninhabitable, but the mining business was lucrative. There was a narrow belt along the tropical parallels, where crops could be grown and cities built, and then there was the steaming wet equatorial zone for resources and the canyon-grained plateaus to the north and south, where the mining ventures operated in the protective cracks of the canyons, where the wind and the dust was bearable. Judging from the heat, they were already inside the tropics. Sweat was trickling down her neck and her hair was already getting damp. The long silence didn’t help either.

Ashley finished her meal and watched Miranda as she ate, which was unnerving but not menacing. Miranda was stalling for time, playing the clueless role. She noticed before, how Ashley froze up when she reached for the backpack. Miranda downplayed it at that time, but mostly to conceal her hurt, that Ashley would think that she could turn the tables on her. Then again, she did try to get the gun a few times before, but after everything that happened at the tower she was too tired to bother, not to mention staying in the comfortable role of the victim. So she smiled, realizing she deserved it, which also hurt a little, but at that point, all she wanted was to sleep.

Now, however, she had to consider every gesture, every word—  
“You’ve got straw in your hair—” Ashley said, pointing.  
Miranda reached for it embarrassed and brushed through her hair with her fingers, fishing out the tiny straws, looking at them cross-eyed and throwing them away with a blush and a smile.

That seemed to work, Ashley’s gaze softened, became, more contemplative, still searching her features. Miranda finished the food, put the can down neatly, and drank a few big gulps from the bottle, making sure that a few drops escaped and trickled down her neck, so she could try to stop collect them in her palm awkwardly, shooting shy glances at Ashley.

Miranda was still trying to figure out Ashley’s mood, so she just put down the bottle and sat there, hands on her knees, fidgeting like she was about to ask something but still gathering courage.  
“I-I really don’t know what to do now,” she said finally. It was almost completely true.  
“Come here,” Ashley said, tilting her head, and spreading her legs, pointing in front of her.

Miranda frowned what she hoped would seem like more awkwardness, but inside she was getting cautious. It was a very manly gesture and accepting it would be a bit submissive. Maybe she overplayed the shyness card, but it would be suspicious if she would decline. She let some of the uneasiness show, but she slipped over, finally snuggling in with her back pressed against Ashley’s torso, head resting on her shoulder, and Ashley’s arm absently wrapping around her waist. It was definitely comfortable, though, but she could not see Ashley’s face. Then it occurred to her that maybe that was her plan.

Ashley turned her head again and looked out through the doorway at the yellow farmlands flying by, Miranda following her gaze.  
“I noticed how you panicked back at the tower, when the fat guy jumped you,” Ashley said and Miranda froze. This was a very odd topic and tone. She quickly started throwing out scenarios she was preparing for, partly because this _was_ a very touchy subject for her. Ashley felt her tensing up, so she squeezed her waist reassuringly, fidgeting with Miranda’s hair absently. “It’s okay, don’t worry. Just hear me out, okay?”

Miranda waited silently, but Ashley didn’t continue. She needed confirmation. “Okay?” Ashley repeated with a gentle nudge. “You don’t have to say anything, I promise.”

“Okay,” Miranda croaked eventually, very cautiously.  
“I’ve seen people panicking in combat situations. Believe me, I can tell a PTSD apart from a hysterical civilian.” She gave her another reassuring squeeze. “All I’m saying is, that I can tell that you were attacked like that before. I’m guessing it happened when you were younger and more defenseless. Clear signs of trauma-induced panic attack. And the way you zoned out after— I guess I just want to say I’m sorry. You were strong.” She planted a kiss on top of her head.

Miranda blinked. She was relieved that Ashley didn’t see her face. She felt guilty and a bit touched. Ashley misread the signs, thinking she got shocked, while she was euphoric. Obviously she wouldn’t tell that to Ashley.  
“I almost got us killed.” Ashley continued, not really leaving Miranda time and opportunity to react. “But I knew it wouldn’t end like that. You know why? Because death avoids me.”

Miranda looked up at her with a questioning gaze, also to hide her excitement. This was beginning to go somewhere. She also needed to see Ashley’s face to know if she was about to do something very stupid. But no, her gaze was clear, if a little bit sad.

“I dodged death back on Eden Prime, when Shepard found me.” She paused. “But I guess you would know that. It was in our reports.

“I thought that would be it for the Williams curse, finally. Instead, I got to ride shotgun into the mouth of hell next to Shepard and Alenko… Until Virmire, of course.”

Ashley gently took Miranda’s left wrist and guided it to her right side, pulling up her shirt. She led her fingertips to the gunshot wound just above her kidney.

“That was Virmire. I was guarding the nuke, and I thought it was pretty okay as odds went. And then I got shot. You know, when I saw my blood splatter on the bomb I freaked out. I thought it’s busted, and won’t go off and Shepard would be disappointed.” Ashley chuckled. “It took me a few seconds to realize that I was probably gonna die there. The nuke would go off, I’d be gone and the Williams name would be cleared with blood.”

Miranda looked at her face again, her fingertips gently brushing over the wound. She knew that wound. She wanted to kiss it again.  
“And then Shepard chose to come back for me. What a fucked up choice that was!” Ashley continued, brushing her lips across Miranda’s forehead before resting her chin. “I knew it made sense, that Kirrahee and Kaidan knew what they were doing. That’s the role of the diversion. He was with an elite STG team. You can hardly get safer than that. I was needed at the nuke. Fuck, I would have probably made the same choice as Shepard, but still. Kaidan was dead. The bastard.” Ashley’s voice faltered and for a few, long seconds she remained quiet.

“It was unbearable, you know? Why did Shepard choose me? Why did Kaidan have to die? Was it my fault? Did I fail to protect the nuke? God, I had the perfect way out! Either as a hero, or as a final footnote on the family name. But no.  
“And then it was jealousy, you see. Kaidan gets to be the fucking hero!”

Miranda felt pressure on her head as Ashley buried her face in her hair, and her hands squeezed her tighter, but not painful. Yet. She kept touching her naked side, hoping to calm her down a bit.

“I was going fucking mad. They took me in, and Kaidan did a lot to help me settle in, you know. Especially since Shepard and Liara seemed to be smitten with each other. I bet that’s not in any report you could get your hands on, huh? Commander Shepard falling for an asari. Or the other way around, I don’t know. It was at least not fraternization, and it didn’t affect Shepard’s attitude. But I suppose that meant that Kaidan got me to pester about. I don’t know. Maybe we would have hit it off eventually. He was very open and accessible. Fuck if I know. I miss him a lot.” She sighed.

“So then came the Citadel. I’m sure you know how that went, too. And we survived that one, too. Shepard, Garrus and I facing off Saren. It was insane! We were invincible. At least I felt that way.”

Miranda listened eagerly. She didn’t dare to interrupt her with questions, ask about more details. She was more or less aware of what happened, but never read the all Alliance files and reports. She would have to, once this was over. And Shepard and Liara… they had no idea.

“So then you can imagine, how it felt to go down, while on a routine recon mission above some godforsaken planet, by a ship we never fucking seen before! I wanted to stay there and go down with the ship, but it was the skipper’s job. Shepard got to save Joker and we had to make sure that most of the crew would survive. I was screaming at the hatch in the escape pod. It was fucking unfair! We beat the geth, Sovereign, kicked ass on the Citadel and then shot to pieces by what? Can you imagine how totally powerless we felt seeing the Normandy blown to pieces and Shepard die?”

Miranda shrank smaller, wincing as Ashley’s grasp got tighter. She knew Ashley was venting out, having her own moment of sorting out her life just as she had after she killed the fat man, but it was getting more painful. And familiar. Oh, Miranda knew helplessness all right. She had to fight down her own panic, and focus on Ashley’s words.

“So there. Dodged death again, drifted in orbit for days, contemplating our total failure, and then— red tape. That Sovereign was a geth ship. Fuck them! I was there when Shepard _talked_ to that fucking thing. It was nothing we ever imagined before. I was scared shitless! And that ship that took us out— That was obviously not geth!”

“So when Hackett approached me and said he believed Shepard so he needed me, I jumped at the opportunity. He ran his own little side-operation within the Alliance, getting rid of Sovereign’s parts and throwing the pieces into the closest fucking sun. Everybody was trying to steal those damn pieces, but they are like a virus. Who knows, even a little piece can infect the mind and turn everybody into fucking space-zombies. I saw what it did to Saren!”

Through her palm pressed against Ashley’s side Miranda felt her body tremble from rage. She shifted in her embrace, half turning her body in Ashley’s lap and cuddled closer to try and keep her calm with gentle touches. The world outside slowly turned into a deep red as the sun started to set over the horizon.

“So then Hackett calls and says, there is one more. Supposedly, some batarians got away with pieces of tech from Sovereign and made a dash for it, and they were in batarian space already. We should go in, get the tech from the four-eyed toads and get out. If we get busted, it means war. It was so messed up, practically a suicide mission. Of course I took it. I wanted it to end anyway.”

“We go in, find the batarians on a moon mining complex. Blew everything into pieces. No casualties on our side. My men gave me funny glances. We get the pieces, tow it in a freight container, because I’m not gonna let anybody get close to that shit. Ran into a batarian patrol, had to wipe them out, too, no problem. So the container gets damaged. Now we have to come up with something. We went through the contents of the container, but I swear I haven’t seen anything like that before. Not the typical scrap everybody tried to steal from the Citadel. There was an orb and a bunch of other ornate stuff. In the end we cannibalized the patrol ship, strapped the mass drive to the container and sent it off where Hackett wanted it. And we got out without a fucking scratch!”

Ashley sounded disappointed. “I guess I had too good a mentor,” she sighed, and bowed her head, resting her forehead on Miranda’s head. She could feel Ashley’s heavy breathing, how she fought with her own panic, or simply the urge to cry. “So there. Still not dead.”

Miranda realized her mouth was dry. She didn’t even dare to breathe. This was it. The whole mission, everything they wanted to know and so much more! She was done, mission accomplished! Time to make an exit strategy.

Only, they were on a train for at least twenty more hours, and if she lets it end like this, Ashley will either be dead or useless by the time she gets back to the Alliance. Or makes sure she will get killed on the next mission.

Miranda could not let that happen. Not when she was the only human hero of the Citadel alive. Not when she could be groomed for being the next human Spectre. Not when they gave each other solace. Not when the asari and the drell were getting close to—

She _had to_ help Ashley Williams get it out of her system. For both their sake.

“Why are you telling me all this?” Miranda finally asked, her palm resting on Ashley’s abdomen. She made sure to look straight into Ashley’s eyes with as much compassion as possible, and without pity.

Ashley snorted and looked away, out into the sunset. She thought about it for a while, before turning back towards Miranda with a much more composed expression.  
“Because, what are you going to do? Even if you manage to get back to Cerberus, you are not going to spill this info out. It would mean very bad press for humanity.” Ashley smirked. “And because there’s nothing left to gain from knowing about a cleanup op. But mostly because this cannot end well and I-I wanted you to know, how fucked up I am.”

Miranda had no trouble to look confused and raised her eyebrows. “Why?”

“I was watching you sleep.” Ashley smiled sadly. “I know you’re Cerberus, and I know you’re smart and it’s bad enough that you chose those terrorists. But I also know you’re just a human. I know how beautiful you are when you are asleep, or when you are happy. And I got a glimpse about why you are like this, when you killed that fat bastard.” Ashley sighed. “And if we get out of this mess, we wouldn’t have a chance even if this—” she gave a small squeeze to her waist “—was nothing more than a way to let off steam and not go crazy.”

Miranda was about to protest, frowning and shaking her head, but before she could speak, Ashley continued.  
“It’s okay. It’s not like you held a gun to my head. And I know you weren’t trying to get me into your pants.” Ashley smiled, fidgeting with Miranda’s hair.”You’re clever but not that clever. And I’m simple but not that simple.”

“So what happens now?” Miranda asked finally.  
“Don’t know,” Ashley shrugged. “If we make it back, we probably wouldn’t be able to be together again anyway. I can’t protect you. You could spill the bean on… this, and I would get discharged or buried in some shitty task somewhere. But you’re not that petty. And that would just make me feel more guilty.” Miranda kept quiet. There was no scenario in her mind where she would be taken prisoner by the Alliance.

Miranda searched her face, her hand absently slipping up and resting on Ashley’s shoulder now. She tried to gauge her mood. Ashley didn’t look suicidal, and neither did she look like she was giving up on the Alliance. As the marine shrugged and looked down at her smiling, Miranda had the impression that she might be seeking closure. Closure to move on from Shepard, and from this. Maybe they weren’t in love, but this was more than just a fling. It was therapy.

Miranda smiled back, snuggling into a more comfortable position, wrapping Ashley’s hair around a finger. When she thought about it, Ashley was probably looking for some intimacy. God knows, Miranda needed it, too, and she used this desire to her advantage a couple of times in the past. But Ashley needed it more than her, and Miranda could give this moment to her even though she already got everything from the marine she needed. This one was for free. As a gift to keep Ashley going and get the closure even though if Liara succeeds—

“You should keep your hair like this,” Miranda mused out loud. “Screw regulations. You earned to not give a shit. The Alliance can go fu—” Ashley didn’t let her finish. Their lips met and there was nothing gentle or cautious about it. They drank each other’s taste, Miranda responding instantly, lifting a hand to cup Ashley’s cheek. For a few seconds, only their heavy breathing and the wet noises were the only sounds inside the boxcar.

Then Ashley took Miranda’s wrist and started to pull it away, slowly climbing on top of her, their bodies pressed together tightly all the way, rubbing off on each other, Miranda helping her to straddle her and pin her arms to the floor, not breaking the kiss even for a second.

The daytime heat still got stuck inside the car, and outside it was not getting that cool either. The setting sun shone in at a flat angle, highlighting everything with a rusty glow, including their upper bodies lying in the path of light.

“You like it, huh?” Ashley asked finally, when she pulled away, licking her lips, pushing herself up and shaking out her damp hair playfully. There was a glint in her eyes that would have alerted Miranda, but she was too busy gasping for air.  
“Yes,” she whispered out of breath.  
Ashley rocked her head left and right, brushing her hair across Miranda’s face with a musing expression on her face. Miranda blinked and tried to turn her head away from the tingling sensation.  
“Maybe I will keep it like this, then.” She stopped, looking into Miranda’s eyes. “I can do whatever I want, right?”  
Miranda didn’t reply, still savoring the taste of the unexpected kiss, trying to focus on her face and squirmed to get more comfortable. Ashley’s grin was getting wider.  
“I can do whatever I want with you, too,” she said in a lower voice.

Miranda was breathing heavily, wanting to continue the kissing and groping, but her pulse was quickening not just because of the closeness but the hidden danger in Ashley’s voice. Her wrists already started to hurt.  
“Right?” Ashley asked, apparently waiting for an answer from Miranda.  
“Yes,” she replied quietly, her gaze darting around, feeling a little bit uneasy. But this was Ashley. She wasn’t like her father. She meant no harm. Right?

Ashley shook her head sternly, leaning very close to Miranda’s face. “I need you to say it.”  
Miranda was getting more anxious by the second, but she enjoyed the kiss too much and she remembered Ashley’s firm body before. She needed that, too. Just not exactly like this.  
“You-You can do whatever you want,” she replied with a tiny bit of anxiety in her voice.  
Considering Ashley’s experience, she was surprisingly confident. Maybe that was Miranda’s influence, she couldn’t tell. Maybe those angry glares on their first day on the run were born out of something other than frustration. Maybe it was hunger.

Ashley was nibbling her skin, working her way down her neck, making her squirm and offer more just to make herself more comfortable pinned to the floor.  
“God, I want to fuck you right now,” Ashley mumbled into her neck, biting into the curve where it met her shoulder, eliciting a gasp from Miranda, who still struggled between pleasure and fear, the conflicting urges to flee and to grind her hip harder against Ashley. She grimaced in pain, her wrists really starting to ache now.  
“Kiss me first,” she said, her voice trembling. It worked, Ashley slowing down to stare into her eyes, their noses touching before planting a passionate kiss on her lips.

Miranda let out a relieved sigh when Ashley let go of her wrists, placing her hands next to her head. Miranda was still too stunned to move her arms, tears forming in the corner of her eyes.  
Her relief was short lived, as she felt Ashley cup her breast through the jacket, not breaking the kiss. There was as much desperation in her moves as lust, and Miranda tried to sort out her own emotions. Ashley must have sensed something, because she broke the kiss, pressing their foreheads together, both of them breathing harder now. It wasn’t just the humidity of the evening. She closed her eyes but kept caressing Miranda’s breast, crumpling the jacket in her palm.  
“Now say it,” Ashley whispered. It almost sounded like begging, impatient.  
“I-uh,” Miranda paused, swallowing, closing her eyes, too, rubbing her forehead against Ashley’s. “I want you to-to take me,” she whimpered.

Eyes still closed, Ashley peeled the jacket away, making Miranda hold her breath. “No,” Ashley said quietly.  
Miranda whimpered, squeezing her eyes shut.  
“I-I want, uh,” she pouted her lips, struggling with tears. “Fuck me, Ashley,” she said finally with a sigh, relenting.  
Ashley sat up, breathing hard, looking down at her prisoner, and peeled off her jumpsuit, slipping out from the top half, revealing her damp T-shirt. She pulled it off with a swift move, throwing it away, her well-toned body glistening with sweat in the faint, silver light trickling in through the gap in the door.

Ashley lowered her arms, her perky breasts standing out, nipples hard, the curves barely visible in the thickening twilight. Miranda tried to breathe regularly as Ashley’s arms slid up her belly, up to her cleavage and grabbed the shirt in her fists. She tore it open with one swift move, sending the buttons flying, making her breasts sway free, rolling up and down as she gasped again, scared and aroused at the same time.  
“Fuck me, please,” she said, hoping it would help ease the tension, blinking as Ashley cupped her breasts and leaned forward, planting kisses on her collarbone, fondling her breasts with firm grips.

“Fuck me.” She said it so Ashley would go easy, but what made her aroused was actually the way she ripped her top. She couldn’t help it. This was biology, hormones raging, the heat, the closeness, the isolation. Nobody was around. Nobody to save Miranda from Ashley, if she got rougher. And she didn’t want to be saved. Her common sense was protesting, but she knew this is what her body wanted. Life made her this way. She hated rough, but she craved it. She had to realize it again as Ashley lavished her breasts with hot kisses, but using her teeth to tug at her nipples, making her yelp. Ashley pinned her hands down again, and bit into her side, under her ribs, tongue twirling, nibbling down to her navel.  
“Tell me you need this,” Ashley mumbled into her taut belly, rising and sinking as she was taking shallow breaths.

“I need this,” she repeated, but she wanted to say, no, I don’t. It reminded her too much of home, when she was too young and the things her father did, which filled her with dread. And he knew quite well, that her body will like it eventually. She was the product of her father’s sick desires.

“I need this,” she sobbed. But god, it felt good now, when Ashley was yanking her pants and underpants down her leg, and then grabbing her knees just like…  
She gasped, and she couldn’t tell if it was fear or need. This was the same scenario again, just like all those years ago, and Miranda couldn’t tell if she was enjoying this because it was Ashley’s needy but soft touches, or because that’s just how the body works. She wanted it to be genuine, at least once in her life, but she couldn’t be sure and that was also her father’s fault.

“Please, please, please,” she whimpered, begging her to stop and to go on, devour her, suck her folds into her soft, warm lips, lick her up and down, flick her clit that made her jerk and moan deeply but still, at least it wasn’t going to hurt her. That was the difference: she willed herself to trust that Ashley didn’t want to hurt her.

But of course it was clumsy a little bit, and Ashley’s hands squeezed her thighs too hard sometimes, or her bite was a bit too strong, and she will probably have bruises on her wrists, too, but at least she came, first from Ashley’s tongue, then later, from her fingers, when both of them were naked and rolled around onto the sacks, and she clung onto Ashley’s neck while their breasts rubbed together and she felt their thighs pressing against each others wet sex.

Miranda wanted to beg her to stop, but it always came out as “fuck me” and she let everything happen because that’s how it felt good, and she hated herself for it. Ashley was moaning and writhing above her, whispering her name into her ear, or begging her to ask for more. It long ago became a blur for Miranda and she only hoped that the moans and the sweat, the squirms and their tangled wet hair falling into their faces would hide her tears.

When they were both spent, after who knows how much time passed and Ashley finally rolled off her, Miranda immediately curled up just like she used to, and held her breath to control the sobs and get her emotions under control, just like she used to do. Cool breeze washed over her skin, giving a little relief from the heat. She flinched, when after a few seconds, Ashley rolled over and spooned her again. This was not like how it used to happen, but this was the second time Ashley did this, wrapping her in her arms. She whispered soothing nonsenses into her hair, something like, it will be fine and how she’ll let her hair down and that it was okay. She was very close to breaking, but in the end, with a few more sighs, she choked it down, only a slight, nervous shiver remained.

Never in her life did Miranda spent so much time in somebody else’s arms. She never felt safer. Eventually they fell asleep, Ashley on her back, Miranda pressing tightly against her side, arm and leg across her torso and Ashley wrapping an arm around her shoulder. Even though she might have suspected that this was just a passing affair, she still held Miranda. After all, she was a marine.


	6. Fugitive

Ashley woke earlier again, their limbs still entangled with Miranda. She laid there for long minutes, watching the dawn lights through the open door. She was still trying to figure out what exactly happened last night. That they did it in the heat of the moment was an understatement.

Sure, she could see how it was a mixture of adrenaline and fear and the closeness that drove them into each other’s arms, _twice_. She was against fraternization but she knew that after a gruelling op, emotions usually run high in a fighting unit. She could usually wait until shore leave to vent it out in a drunken one night stand, but some soldiers were doing it within ranks anyway. She couldn’t blame them.

Except that this was different. It was definitely a first for Ashley, but Miranda seemed confident back at the railyard. She was in shock, desperate, but still, not as crude by far as drunken men at bars.  
But this time it was not desperation, and it was Ashley, who made the move. And for the life of her, she couldn’t tell if Miranda was loving it or hating it. She was sending her mixed signals, in one moment totally into it, the next she seemed to be terrified of her. Whatever Ashley tried, Miranda was not reacting the way she expected. One moment she struggled against her, the other moment Ashley couldn’t go hard enough on her.

As Ashley watched the morning lights creep into the boxcar she looked down at Miranda’s face as she slept exhausted, but peacefully on her shoulder. She wondered, if she took advantage of the Cerberus agent’s emotional vulnerability. It was clear that she should have refused her advances back at the railyard and of course she should have restrained herself last night, when she pinned her to the floor.

She also couldn’t help it. Back at the railyard she knew that it was the victim in Miranda who reached out to get some relief from the trauma, and it was wrong to have sex with her, but she was so very hot and had this incredible vibe that Ashley couldn’t grasp before. She was weak.  
And then she fell into the same trap. She poured out her soul to Miranda, at least about her past few months, and all Miranda had to say was to give her fashion advice. This woman, this smart and clever enemy spy, so uncharacteristically soft and content in her arms, was not trying to patronize her for her losses or give her a speech about Important Things that would ring false even if she meant it, or worse, sound shallow and empty. No. She made a remark about her hair. It was something that Ashley didn’t even knew she needed: a few nice words so she could feel good about herself. It said so much more in that unfinished sentence, than a whole pep talk could have. No wonder she lost it.

But then it became hot and awkward at the same time. Yes, she wanted to top Miranda, go wild, but it didn’t seem to work half the time and she could not, for the life of her figure out what went wrong. Was it bad memories? Was it Ashley’s inexperience? Did she help Miranda get relief or just damaged her more? 

Ashley almost dreaded the moment Miranda would wake up, because then she would find out if Miranda hated her or was afraid of her, or thought Ashley was bad at sex and it would become even more awkward. It would be best if she never woke up—

Ashley blinked and shook her head at the last thought. She frowned and slipped her arm out from under Miranda and slowly pulled away, covering the sleeping woman up with the jacket, tucking her in. She started dressing up slowly. It will be a very long train ride.

Eventually, Miranda woke up, too, and she didn’t seem to be neither mad nor scared. Nervous, yes, and flustered, maybe. She just put the jacket over her shoulders, pulled it close on her chest and pulled her slender, white legs under her. Gracious, even in a boxcar, on a freight train, after a wild night.

Ashley was all dressed up, already had her breakfast and was sitting near the door again, where she could watch her and the scenery passing by. The fields were replaced by plantations and orchards, and they passed a couple of smaller towns and at least one other railyard, where the train stopped for a few hours. They had to close the door and stay very quiet in the car, under the relentless sun. Inside the train it was even worse, the air stuck and humid, making it very hard to breathe. Miranda didn’t even bother to dress up, and Ashley soon peeled herself out of the top half of the jumpsuit. They smiled at each other, admiring the other’s nakedness, and eventually Ashley ended up lying on her back, her head in Miranda’s lap, who sat against the wall of the train, and absently fiddled with Ashley’s hair, staring out through the small gap on the door they risked leaving open. 

They barely spoke a few words since they woke up. At first, Ashley tried to talk about last night, but Miranda just shook her head, closed her eyes and said “don’t worry about it.”  
They just sat there and occasionally glanced at each other with a mixture of emotions in their eyes. Miranda didn’t want to talk, and Ashley had trouble putting her thoughts into words. After a while, silence became more comfortable and their gestures spoke a hundred words. So there they were, Ashley resting her head on Miranda’s lap, holding hands, fingers intertwined, and lost in thoughts.

It was getting late afternoon by the time they started to approach the capital. Heavy clouds gathered over the horizon where they were going, signs of the afternoon tropical showers most common in this season. Just as the sky darkened, their own mood started to turn sour. They all knew what was coming. They slowly dressed up, properly, buttoning up and checking their gear, both thinking about possible scenarios once they get off the train.

Will Cerberus wait for them at the railyard? Do they know where to look? How long until Ashley can signal to the Alliance and how long till they make an extraction? Will Cerberus really take Miranda out to prevent her from falling into Alliance hands? What will the Alliance do with Miranda once she’s arrested? What will she put into her report? What will Miranda tell? Could they survive this at all?

Ashley winced, when the deep rumble of thunder rolled across the sky, the air cooling down as they approached the evening storm. The train slowed its cruising speed as it entered the industrial zones, rattling through more and more switches, rocking the train as it changed tracks occasionally. Ashley was hesitating, waiting until the last possible minute before kneeling in front of Miranda, who sat in the corner with an empty expression, and took her wrists. Miranda sat up, looking into Ashley’s eyes. Ashley leaned forward and kissed her, holding Miranda’s wrists in her hands, nibbling at her soft flesh.  
“I’m sorry,” Ashley whispered, pressing their foreheads together and reached for the handcuffs, snapping them on.  
Miranda nodded, letting out a soft sigh.  
“Me too.”

They stayed like that for five more minutes, searching each other’s faces until the train slowed to a crawl. Ashley decided to leave the backpack behind, taking only the gun and stuffing anything that she deemed useful into the many pockets of her jumpsuit. She nodded to Miranda, and stood up, pulling her to her feet.

Ashley didn’t want to wait until they reached the shunting yard. There might be more cover there with the dozens of trains, but she would have trouble to orient herself and the enemy could herd them where they wanted to.

She pulled the door open on the other side of the train, cold rain instantly soaking her, strong gusts of wind messing up her hair. She searched the landscape with narrowed eyes and noticed a highway overpass ahead, where bridges were criss-crossing over the train tracks.

“This is where we get off.”

They slid down the muddy shoulder as the train chugged by, and landed in a ditch already half full thanks to the tropical shower. Miranda glared at Ashley, and if those beautiful eyes could throw daggers, Ashley would have died grinning.  
She took Miranda’s elbow and helped her stand up.  
“Cheer up, it’s almost over.”  
She patted her on the shoulder, and they crawled out onto a dirt road, more or less clean, if soaked to the bone. Ashley looked around and started guiding them under the bridges.

They climbed the embankment on the other side, from where they could see for miles around in the twilight. Scott City proper was about an hour’s walk to the southwest, sprawling wide and deep like a field of light. It was a massive city with huge residential districts, two storey family homes as far as the eye could see. The commercial districts stood out like islands of light, a handful of pillars in the middle of a sea of tiny lights. The highways and air traffic corridors were full with commuters, glowing veins of skycars and trucks. It was the prettiest view Ashley ever saw.

She noticed a filling station and roadside restaurant in the distance, away from the city, another batch of light and colorful signs. “Come on,” she nudged Miranda and they started to make their way towards the lights at the base of the embankment, out of sight from the road. Ashley had the gun in her right hand, flinging it casually by her side, and led Miranda with her left hand. It was still raining, and they were already feeling miserable, so none of them felt the need to talk about their plans.

It took them ten minutes to reach the station and by that time, the rain stopped. It was about time, Ashley thought, they couldn’t get wetter than this. They hid around the corner of the filling station, Ashley peeking out the corner to assess their options.  
“We’re gonna hitch a ride at the restaurant,” she whispered to Miranda, nodding for her to start moving.

They walked around the filling station, ran to the restaurant in the cover of some crates and a bush with gigantic leaves. “Where were you when we needed you?” Ashely grumbled before pulling Miranda down under it. She was checking out the parking lot, watching people coming and going. Minutes crawled by, they huddled quietly in the shadows, Ashley still waiting for her move. Miranda took a breath to ask something, but Ashley just lifted a hand to hush her.  
“Wait. See?” she nodded towards a car rolling in and stopping only a few feet away from them, at the edge of the parking lot. A man got out, locked the car and made his way to the diner.

Ashley nodded to Miranda and they ran to the car, crouching down at the driver’s side. Ashley looked at Miranda with an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry, but I have to do this…” she flashed a sad smile and pushed Miranda face down onto the concrete, pressing one knee between her shoulderblades, while she pulled a knife from her pocket and broke the lock on the door.

Miranda grunted indignantly, grimacing as she laid motionless on the cold, wet floor. “Just great,” she murmured.

There was a click and the door opened. Ashley dove in and tore open a panel in the footroom, ripping out several fuses before the car could make a peep. She lifted her knee off Miranda’s back and nudged her in. She fastened their seatbelts, closed the door quietly and hotwired the car. She looked at Miranda, who glared at her with raised eyebrows.  
Ashley shrugged.  
“Standard operating procedure,” she grinned. Miranda almost chuckled, but in the end just shook her head and looked out towards the restaurant..

The car came alive, lights turning on, electronics buzzing to life. As soon as the onboard computer booted up, Ashley tapped in several codes, lips pressed thin, the tip of her tongue poking out as she concentrated. After the third one, a green OVERRIDE message appeared and the engine whirred up.  
“Clever, huh?” Ashley said, sitting up straight and grinning at Miranda. She reversed out quietly from the parking lot and only turned on the lights once they reached the on-ramp and drove onto the highway leading away from Scott City.

They turned back at the next overpass, and sped towards the skyscrapers, Ashley gripping the controls steadily, her eyes darting around, checking their progress on the navigator and the rear view cams.

“By the time the guy notices his car is missing, we’ll already be in the city,” Ashley grinned.  
“And then what?” Miranda asked with a serious tone. She got more and more tense as they approached the city. For a little while, the only sound in the car was the air conditioning, blowing hot air into the cabin to help them dry up.  
Ashley shrugged. “Dunno. Gotta get some decent outfits, contact HQ and wait for extraction.”  
“That’s it?” Miranda snorted. “That’s your plan?”  
Ashley looked at her with a baffled expression. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”  
Miranda frowned. “Don’t you have safehouses in the city? Some contacts? How do you plan to evade my men? Any dead drops, escape routes? Anything?” She sounded mostly annoyed, maybe just a little bit concerned. Ashley was trying to guess if she was worried about herself or for the both of them.  
“I’m a marine, not a spy,” she answered finally, with a baffled grimace. “I go in there, grab what I can and wing it.”  
“Oh, my god,” Miranda muttered and looked out the window.

Ashley was getting a little bit frustrated. Miranda wasn’t condescending, but clearly she wasn’t satisfied with Ashley’s approach.  
“What exactly is your problem?” Ashley asked, shooting a glance at her. “Am I disappointing you?”  
Miranda looked at her for a second. “No, it’s just…” she was searching for the right words. “Never mind,” she sighed.

“I don’t know what’s the worry. It’s a huge city, millions of people on hundreds of square miles. Even if you have spies everywhere, our chances are still pretty good.” She paused. “Unless you have another plan and care to share with me.”

“I don’t have a plan. I’m just the prisoner.” Miranda shrugged. “I just know how would I hunt you.”  
Ashley smirked. “That’s amusing. So how would you do it?”

“My first priority would be to make sure your prisoner won’t talk” Miranda said quietly.  
That got Ashley’s attention. She stared at Miranda for a few, long seconds.  
“Is this what you’re worried about? That you’re gonna die?”  
Miranda just shrugged, shaking her head before looking away. Ashley frowned and turned her attention back towards the road. After a few minutes of tense silence, she sighed.  
“So. You would let me get away and shoot your own man.” Ashley nodded, pondering. “Why?” Ashley waited for an answer, but she didn’t get one. She glanced at Miranda, who kept her lips pressed thin and frowned, struggling with her emotions. “Is it because you got everything from me? Or I’m more valuable alive? Or is it because it would make Cerberus look bad?”  
“Stop it!” Miranda hissed.  
“Maybe there are more sentimental reasons?” Ashley went on relentlessly.  
“Enough. Please!”

She wasn’t trying to bully her and somehow she almost managed. Miranda turned away, covering her face with a hand, letting out a deep breath.  
“What does it matter? I either end up dead or rotting in an Alliance cell for the rest of my days. Which one would you prefer?”

Ashley kept quiet. They were almost back to the fights they had before, only this time the stakes were even higher, and there was something else to lose. Ashley regretted pushing it. She let out a sigh and put a hand on Miranda’s thigh. Miranda jumped a little bit, but didn’t push her hand away.  
“I’m sorry,” she offered, keeping her eye on the road, shooting a short glance at Miranda. She was staring ahead, too, at the highway and the lights of the suburbs they were passing by.  
“Help me out here, then. What would you do?”

Miranda didn’t reply at first, but Ashley could feel it in her muscles, and her expression that she was hesitating. She gathered her thought.  
“I would watch the Alliance barracks, monitor calls, train stations, spaceports, roads in and out of the city, marine haunts, hubs, police frequencies...” she shrugged. “ Spread my men out and have a strike team circle around, ready to hit when there is confirmation.”

“Oh-kay,” Ashley nodded. That was pretty extensive. She wondered if they had that many men on a mining world like this one. But then again, Terra Nova had only about four million people, most of them in this city. It couldn’t be that hard. “So how would you evade it?”

Miranda glared at her almost disapprovingly. “Really? You wanna know the secrets of the trade right now? And want me to spill them for you?”  
Ashley offered a sly grin.  
“Think of it a spy novel.”  
Miranda rolled her eyes.  
“Humor me,” Ashley patted her thigh. Miranda let out an exasperated sigh.  
“As I said before. Safe houses, change looks frequently, go in a beeline, make contact through different channels, drop false leads…” she shrugged. “Not that it matters.”  
“Because if you help me, they would know. You can’t even show any signs of that, or they would think you want to give yourself up and spill on THEM once you’re in Alliance custody.”  
Miranda didn’t reply but her silence was enough for Ashley.

“Okay,” Ashley muttered. The road took them into one of the commercial districts, and Ashley had to watch the traffic more closely now. She was pondering what she heard as she watched the signs and towers passing by, like so many chances, warnings, alternatives. Slowing down to keep with the flow of the traffic, they were approaching a major junction. Ashley let out a soft chuckle and smirked. “Okay. Then let’s not play that game.”

She swerved suddenly, changing lanes, drifting towards the closest exit, angry drivers flashing their lights and their horns at her. Miranda raised her eyebrows, hanging onto her seat as Ashley changed lanes again and approached the off-ramp at breakneck speed.  
“What are you—” she gasped, but Ashley hit the brakes and matched the speed of the vehicles around them, suddenly just one more car in the traffic, watching her monitors closely.  
“Trust me,” she grinned and overtaking the cars wherever she could, she turned towards the city center at the first intersection. She looked at Miranda with an encouraging smile. “Now it’s my turn to make their lives harder.”  
She took the next turn, guiding the car onto a large avenue which was glowing with lights from shop windows, advertisements, skyscrapers.  
“They want a hunt?” Ashley muttered to herself defiantly. “I’ll give them one.”

She swerved sharply onto a ramp that led to the underground garage of a huge shopping center, coasting through the barrier and slowed down to find a spot.  
“Ashley,” Miranda whispered, looking around bewildered. “What are you doing?”  
Ashley didn’t answer. She spotted a place and parked the car smoothly, turning off the engines. 

She let out a sigh and turned towards Miranda, resting her left hand on her thigh and cupping her cheek with her right.

“Listen to me.” She stared deep into those blue eyes. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. It will be all right.”  
“Ash…” Miranda started, lifting her cuffed hands to touch Ashley’s hand on her cheek.  
“Hush. I won’t lose you.” Ashley said sternly, her brow furrowing. “No matter how this ends. You understand?”

Miranda returned her gaze, and leaning into Ashley’s palm she nodded in understanding.  
“Good,” Ashley sighed. Miranda was smart enough to get it, Ashley thought. She had to be. Because if she needed to explain it to Miranda that she can’t lose her like she lost Kaidan and Shepard, she wouldn’t be able to hold herself together.

She knew they couldn’t just drop off the map and hide away in a cozy corner of the Galaxy, even if they wanted to. But she had the feeling that this was not that kind of love anyway. And Ashley had a job to do. And Miranda… well, she had her own demons and her own goals. If it was not by her side, at least she had to make sure she gets out of this alive.

They stayed like that for a minute, looking at each other, Ashley smiling encouragingly, Miranda holding her hand, quietly. Then Ashley broke the gaze and looked around.  
“Time to go.” She whispered, giving a soft kiss to Miranda. She unbuckled their belts, grabbed her gun and opened the doors.

They went to the elevators, the gun dangling in Ashley’s right hand and leading Miranda by the elbow with her left. As they waited, another woman arrived, joining them in front of the doors. It took her several seconds to notice that something was off.  
Miranda could only imagine what went through her head when she realized how shabby they looked in their miner’s clothes, their hair soggy and matted, standing around so casually in the finest shopping center on the planet. Miranda looked down at her own boots, shifting her weight a little, moving just enough so that the handcuffs rattled on her wrists. That drew the woman’s gaze, and she noticed the gun in Ashley’s hand as well. 

Her eyes widened and she opened her mouth but no voice came out. Miranda tried not to chuckle in amusement at the absurd situation. She looked and saw Ashley shoot a glance at the woman, not even moving her head. There was a ding and the elevator arrived, doors opening. Ashley nodded with her head to the woman to step in, and lead Miranda after the petrified woman into the cabin.  
“Food court,” Ashley said to the shocked woman before the doors closed.

When they finally reached the food court, half a dozen people backed out of it, followed by Ashley, nonchalantly, like she was there shopping and nothing was wrong with the world, mostly ignoring the other passengers. Miranda looked at the floor the whole time, head slightly bowed with a slight frown on her forehead, while she tried to keep a straight face. She might have been amused a little bit. Just a little.

The two strolled out the elevator, Ashley leading her prisoner, heading for the cafés and restaurants. The other shoppers stood stunned for a few more seconds, some of them staring after the pair, others backing farther away, searching for security guards. A low murmur rose in their wake.

“There. How about that?” Ashley said to Miranda quietly, nodding at a terraced café with tables and chairs near the main, circular atrium of the shopping plaza. Large, mostly fake or very durable plants decorated the corners, giving the place a cozy, parkland vibe.  
“Looks good,” Miranda shrugged reluctantly. She started to feel the tension growing steadily around them. In the elevator it was contained, comical, but now more and more heads turned, chats died down, whispers started and waiters froze as they walked right into the middle of it.

Ashley stopped at a table, where four women were having their lattés, large shopping bags around them. The two facing Ashley already froze and stared, while the others were still checking the extranet on their omnitools, drink in the other hand.  
“Hey,” one of them said. “Someone is posting that there might be a hostage situation in this very plaza! Can you believe it?”  
“Uh-huh,” the others replied, staring at Ashley and Miranda.

She did look formidable with her tangled mess of hair, deadpan expression on her face, ice cold stare, looking slightly menacing in the miner’s outfit, holding the similarly ragged Miranda by the elbow.  
“Hi” Ashley said.  
The other two almost jumped and turned back, one of them yelping in surprise. By that time, the whole café was quiet, waiting. Miranda had to bite her lip to stay quiet and serious.  
“What’s your name?” Ashley asked, not even trying to sound friendly, poking the woman closest to her with the tip of the gun. It made her squeak, eyes darting back and forth between the gun and Ashley’s face.  
“Uh, E-Elise…”  
“Elise.” Ashley repeated ominously. “Why don’t you tap your ‘tool and dial up Scott City Alliance Command? Choose emergency services.”  
“Wh-what?” Elise stuttered.  
“You heard it. Do it.” Ashley encouraged.

Miranda raised her eyebrows, glaring at Ashley. “That’s your big plan?” she whispered.  
“Relax,” Ashley said, turning her attention back to the woman calling up the emergency services panel.  
“Give them a call will you, Elise? tap in hash-nine as soon as it connects” she said calmly.  
The woman did so, scared out of her mind and utterly confused. The omni-tool connected, and there was a voice at the end of the connection.  
“Alliance ES. Sergeant Ramirez. What is your emergency?”

Ashley flicked her gun a few times with her wrist, signaling Elise to lift her arm. She leaned forward, and started speaking as she looked around.  
“Williams. Ashley. Major. Sierra Oscar two one eight two dash six. Authorization Scythe. Confirm.”  
There was a brief pause at the end of the line. Ashley looked at the omni-tool curiously, but there was no picture, just the number and text of the alliance page, and a cursor blinking. She returned to searching the faces around her.  
“Scythe confirmed. What is your situation?”

“I am at…” Ashley looked around with a frown, then at Elise, who was still holding her breath.  
“Tayari Plaza,” she whispered.  
“...Tayari Plaza, food court with an EPW. Need immediate extraction. Hostiles already inbound.”  
There was another pause, longer this time.  
“Copy that. Extraction Oscar Mike. Hold position.” and the call was over. The four women looked at each other helplessly. They had no idea what to do. Ashley leaned closer and nodded.  
“I think it’s time for you to go home, hmmm?” she smiled, but it looked more like a sneer. The four quickly jumped up and gathered their bags, leaving as fast as they could, glancing back at them over their shoulders.

Ashley nodded to Miranda to sit down, then went and sat at an angle to her, not too close, not too far, with artificial jungle behind her, where she could see most of the food court. Cups of half-drank coffees were still steaming on the table. Miranda watched Ashley curiously, hiding her growing nervousness behind a nonchalant expression.  
The marine never let go of the gun, she rested it on her lap as she leaned back, surveying the shopping center, an eerie calm surrounding her.  
“And now what?” Miranda asked quietly, looking around from the corner of her eyes. People were slowly leaving, not daring to raise a fuss, trying not to draw attention to themselves. Some even stayed at their tables, but stopped whatever it was they were doing and watched the two women cautiously.  
“Now we wait,” Ashley shrugged and smiled at her.

Miranda grimaced. However amusing it was to unnerve a bunch of posh shoppers in a glossy plaza, the whole situation was becoming more and more unpredictable. And that, surrounded by confused civilians was a recipe for disaster.  
“What are you trying to do here? Cause panic?” she said still quietly, although nobody was around to hear them. She tried to hide the reproach from her voice and expression. Shooting a glance at the table she reached out and picked up a cup of latté, and started to sip it, looking around.  
“Dunno. Is it working?”  
“No… not yet.”  
“Nothing to worry about then.”

Miranda was getting frustrated. Maybe it was also part of Ashley’s tactic, she couldn’t tell.  
“I don’t think you realize how serious this is…” Miranda tried, speaking over the rim of the cup, trying to talk some sense into the marine.

Ashley Williams was clearly out of her league here, a frontline marine who practically fought her way from Eden Prime through the Citadel, playing the spy game. No doubt, her combat skills were admirable and lately she proved she could think on her feet, adapting her experience to new, unexpected situations, but this was very different. And she seemed dead calm about it.  
“I do, believe me. I’m just not gonna run any more. Let them come at me. I can deal with that.” Ashley shrugged.  
“Ashley, please. You said it will be all right.”  
“So?”  
“I don’t see how.”  
“Look. I promised I won’t let..”  
“I’m not worried about myself, you bloody fool!” Miranda snapped finally. Ashley looked at her, raising her eyebrows and slowly flashing a smile at her.  
“Oh?” she chuckled. “That’s sweet, I suppose.” She leaned forward and picked up another cup of coffee. She sipped into it and grimaced. “Eugh. They drink this?”  
Miranda frowned, leaning forward herself, too.  
“Look. You are way over your head here. Why don’t we just…”

Before she could finish, there was a metallic clang, rustling noises from around the restaurant counter and the remaining guests edging away nervously. They both looked towards the sound and noticed a LOKI Mech making its way towards them. Miranda froze, cup in hand.  
“Ah, Act Two,” Ashley smirked, looking towards the mech, not lifting her gun. “About time.”

The mech stopped at a couple of yards, held its position for a few seconds, pointing their gun at them, then it lowered its gun and started to guard the restaurant. Miranda shook her head in disbelief.  
“A friend of mine,” Ashley grinned.

Miranda narrowed her eyes and in a few seconds she started to realize what happened. The Alliance HQ probably sent out a signal as soon as Ashley called, and added Ashley to the IFF system of all the security mechs in the plaza. It was not impossible, and it would make total sense. Miranda would do the same.

She snorted and shook her head. Ashley was playing a dangerous game. She was leveling the playing field, creating an impossible situation with too many variables, too many solutions, and on top of it, outside the normal, clandestine parameters. She said it herself: she was a marine, not a spy. She was used to open warfare and she was good at reacting to developing situations. Her enemies, however were not used to it. Maybe Ashley didn’t plan ahead, but it was working. She was unpredictable.  
“This is insane,” Miranda sighed, hiding an amused smile as she sipped the rest of the coffee, but Ashley caught a glimpse of it. “You have no idea what you’re doing.”  
“Nope.” Ashley grinned and leaned back. She had nothing to lose, as opposed to the Alliance, but mostly for Cerberus. If this goes wrong, both parties could spin it their way. It will be messy.

Miranda thought about it for a moment longer, calculating odds and ends, and she shook her head slowly. Maybe Cerberus won’t shoot her down, even if Ashley manages to walk out of here with Miranda, but they surely won’t let her stay in custody too long. She was either too important for Cerberus, and they break her out of there, or decide she’s too compromise, take the project away from her and make sure she won’t talk. Either way, the Alliance would be after Cerberus more vehemently. She couldn’t let that happen. Her project was too important. Ashley was too important. This had to stay a local matter. She needed to minimise the damage.

Miranda put the coffee down and flashed a sad smile at Ashley.  
“This must end, Ashley” she looked down at her cuffed hands, then up into Ashley’s eyes. “This must end now.”  
“It will, Miranda. Just a few more minutes and…”  
Miranda closed her eyes and shook her head, taking a deep breath. She had to be very convincing.  
“I can’t let you do this, Ashley…”  
“You can’t _let_ me what?”  
“Ash… Listen to me…”  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Just… listen.” Miranda took another deep breath, and when she opened her eyes and looked into Ashley’s, she could already feel her vision blurring. “If we go our separate ways now, before anybody else gets here, this will just be a footnote in tomorrow’s gossip news. But if anybody’s team gets here first… it will be intergalactic news. I can’t let that happen.”  
“What do you mean, _can’t let that_ happen?” Ashley frowned, her calm slowly disappearing. Her expression started to darken. “What could you do?”  
Miranda shook her head again. “Just listen to me, Ashley. Please!” she was begging, feeling her eyes tearing up. “What you managed to do until now… it’s incredible. I-I’m proud of you. But you have no idea how politics work.” She frowned, seeing Ashley take a breath to protest. She lifted her hand to tell her to stay quiet, her movement awkward with the cuffs. She chuckled, smiling sadly. “No. Listen. Please. I can’t let you ruin your career. Just think about it. All the questions they would ask you. The publicity. The embarrassment for the Alliance. I just can’t… and I have to do my own job.”

Miranda fell quiet, flashing her a sad smile, letting her tears drop. “I can live with you hating me. But I won’t let you bring yourself down. You have to pick up, where Shepard left off. We both have to move on. I’m sorry.”

Ashley still looked baffled. Very alert now, but utterly confused, watching tears rolling down Miranda’s cheek, but not daring to reach out to comfort her. Miranda could see the struggle, and she felt a pang of guilt, confusing her like this, but at least it helped with the tears.  
“What are you sorry—” Ashley muttered. She never got to finish.

There was a smell of ozone, blue energy crackled, and Ashley started to float off her seat. She tried to reach for her gun and lift it, but couldn’t. She could only stare incredulously at Miranda. Miranda, who was also glowing blue, and slowly standing up, her arms following Ashley’s floating. The shock on her face was really making Miranda uncomfortable. She leaned closer, lowering her voice to a whisper.  
“This has to be done. Maybe, one day you will understand. And forgive me.”

And then she swung her hands, sending Ashley flying into the LOKI mech, the two bodies going down in a tangle of limbs, crashing through several tables before stopping. Miranda was already running, not bothering with the handcuffs for now, racing to grab the gun and snatch it out of Ashley’s hands before she could climb out from under the rubble and recover. She tried not to look at her face, but for a heartbeat, she caught her glare. There was a lot of pain in her eyes, and incomprehension.

Miranda tore her gaze away, wiping her tears. She aimed and shot the LOKI mech in the head several times, hoping it was enough to destroy most of the data storage. The mech twitched and electric currents ran along its figure. Miranda started running, not looking back, through the parting crowd, who were now starting to panic. But it was already over.  
Miranda stopped at the corner for a second, looking back, seeing Ashley staggering to her feet, dazed and confused, looking after Miranda with a pained expression. Their eyes met, Miranda tried to look rueful, then darted off before Ashley could have a chance to follow. 

 

*****

 

Two hours later Miranda Lawson was having one of the best showers of her life. Clean bathroom, running hot water, a new set of decent clothes, a first-class apartment, and a wonderful view of the city as she walked out, wrapped in a towel, rubbing her hair dry. She couldn’t take her time to enjoy the luxuries, though. She had to make a call. She dried her hair, shot a glance at the clothes, then decided to put on the fluffy white bathrobe before sitting down at the secure terminal, a glass of red wine in her hand and tapped the keys with a satisfied sigh.

While she waited for the call to connect, she mused about what happened back at the shopping center. Now that she was clean. It felt good. She felt civilised. Back at the Tayari Plaza, it was starting to bother her, the way her skin was sticky with sweat and dirt, hair unkempt, feeling that urge to get out of those damn filthy clothes. 

When she finally got out of Ashley’s sight, she made her way to the staff elevators and rode it up to the skycar parking lot, wiping her face clean of the tears and as much smudge as possible. She studied her reflection as she took deep breaths, coming down from the emotional high she worked herself into, to be convincing enough to Williams. Her eyes were still red, but that would disappear soon. Even than, her first thought was to get some proper clothes.

She stepped out of the elevator, walking out onto the rooftop parking and she almost stumbled into Hope Lilium and a man in a suit. Miranda and the man drew their guns simultaneously. Miranda smirked. A bodyguard. She lowered her gun, looking at the surprised Hope and nodded, before looking around.  
“Perfect timing. We need to get out of here.”  
“Uh, sure, yes,” Hope nodded, touching the arm of the bodyguard, signalling him to stand off. “Our car is this way.” She tapped her omnitool, giving a short order to the Cerberus strike team, no doubt already taking up positions inside the mall. “Fall back. We are clear. Operation aborted.”

Hope and the bodyguard sat in the front, while Miranda had the whole back of the skycar to herself, exhaling loudly and rubbing her wrists, free of the cuffs as she sent a very brief message to the Illusive Man, saying as little as possible, stating some facts and setting up a timeframe for a secure call.  
“Get me to the safehouse,” she said to Hope, looking out the window. She was very tired, annoyed and needed a shower. A LONG shower. “Brief him of the last few days. As much detail as you can put together. Set up the secure channel. I have to get myself out of this shit before I talk to him. You two stay close, I will meet you when I’m done.”

Hope was looking at her from the front seat, nodding, making mental notes.  
“I’ll get to it right away, Ms. Lawson” she said, turning to the bodyguard. “To the penthouse.”  
The driver acknowledged, and changed course, veering out of traffic towards the high-rises, while Miranda stared out the window, looking back at the lights, still trying to make out Tayari Plaza, wondering what Ashley Williams was doing right now.

The beep of the terminal broke her out of her reverie, the Illusive Man signing in. She was still sloshing the wine absently in her hand. She frowned at that, taking a small sip before answering.

“Miranda. Good to see you again,” The Illusive Man said, puffing on his cigarette, as always.  
“Thank you sir. It was a long week,” Miranda nodded. She settled back into the chair, snuggling into the soft fabric of the bathrobe. She was sure the Illusive Man didn’t take it as disrespect. Especially with that discrete cleavage she allowed herself to show.  
“Indeed. I read the report. Ashley Williams. Interesting.”  
“It seems Admiral Hackett is taking things seriously about the Reapers, and he only trusted her with this op. It was about some sort of a Reaper artifact. Apparently, the batarians stole some of the wreckage from the Citadel. ”

“They took a huge risk, going into batarian space. Can this be something else?”  
“Yes and no. She was telling the truth, but I doubt it was really scrap from Sovereign’s wreck. Even Ashley thought this was different.” Miranda took a pause to sip her wine. “Apparently, she has been running clean up operations for Hackett lately, so she has reference.”  
“Ashley? You got to be on a first name basis?” There was a hint of amusement in his voice. Miranda shrugged, but she did not try to hide her emotions. It was all too fresh, and she didn’t bother to fake it in front of him. They both knew better.  
“There were a few intense moments. Bad memories. I’ll get over it.”

The Illusive Man hummed. “You made quite a scene at the mall.”  
“I tried to minimize the impact. It will probably stay a local news story.” Miranda shrugged again. “Ash… Williams was more resourceful than we gave her credit for.”  
“Interesting. Maybe we should pay more attention to her.”  
“Yes, sir. But not as a threat. Maybe I pissed her off now, but it can work for us in the long run if you want to groom her for...”  
“I understand.” The Illusive Man cut her off. “Speaking of attention, you’ve been exposed quite a bit. The Alliance will be more alert.”  
“I know. I doubt they will start a manhunt, though. I tried to avoid exactly that.”

“So,” The Illusive Man paused for effect, puffing on his cigarette, musing. “What have we accomplished, then?”  
Miranda took the time to sip her drink, and change position, crossing her legs and staring at her naked feet, the robe half slipping off of her thighs.  
“Quite a lot, actually. We know there is at least one high-ranking officer, who believes the threat. We know Ashley Williams sees it’s true. And we underestimated her somewhat. We know there’s more to the Reaper artifacts than anybody knows. Ashley thinks it’s different. I guess Hackett knows it, too.”  
The Illusive Man nodded slowly. “Very well then. We can’t do much with it, but any intel is good.” There was another pause. “Anything else?”  
“Actually, there is, sir,” Miranda said, fiddling with the glass, taking another sip and watching the red drink settle down.  
“I’m listening.”

Miranda didn’t lift her gaze.  
“Ashley,” she used the name intentionally. She knew she should have used her family name, but she didn’t care. Maybe it wasn’t professional, but the Illusive Man would hardly mind. She wanted him to notice. “At one point she talked about the Normandy, sir. About the attack. She also talked a bit about the crew. And Shepard’s relationship with the asari.”  
That got the Illusive Man’s attention.  
“Interesting. I want a full report on that, Miranda. This is unexpected good news. I was right to send you there.”  
Miranda looked up at the terminal screen, but didn’t lift her head. “Thank you, sir.”

“Meanwhile, we received a message from Dr. T’Soni. It seems she succeeded. You need to meet her right away. Project Lazarus is a go, Miranda, and I want you to lead the team.”  
Miranda looked up, surprised. “Me? I’m more useful on the field, sir, not in a lab.”  
“I know, Miranda. And you did an excellent job at helping T’Soni and making arrangements. And it seems to me, that you fared quite well at Terra Nova, too.”  
“Thank you, sir, but…”  
“You will have to lay low for a while.”  
“I know...”  
“So what better way to spend that time, than to run this project?” He paused for a second, changing his tone. “Miranda, dear. I see you’re disappointed, but don’t be. At this point, you know more about Shepard than anybody else I can trust this with. You are indeed, very unique.”  
Miranda pressed her lips thin, and frowned. She did not like the idea of sitting behind desks, and managing a bunch of scientists.  
“You know that I have doubts about this project, sir.”  
“I know. I also know, that you won’t make any mistakes. This project is simply too important. Humanity’s survival is at stake.”  
“Isn’t that putting too much pressure on the team, sir?”  
“We both know how smart you are, Miranda. I can trust you to voice your real opinion. I can trust that you won’t try to suck up to me and you will give me straight answers. I can trust you to run a tight ship. Why should I be content with anybody else?”  
“Are you sucking up to me, sir?”  
The Illusive Man allowed a soft chuckle.  
“And that’s why you need to run the project, Miranda.” He leaned forward, probably putting out his cigarette, not even looking into the camera. “Besides, this job is nice and quiet for a change. You will have a little more time for yourself. Contact me before the exchange.”  
And with that, he hung up.

Miranda sat in the chair, wrapped in the bathrobe, sipping the wine and staring off into space for a long time. What has she gotten herself into? The Lazarus was huge, almost religiously important for the Illusive Man. Hence the name, she thought. It was more than a simple analogy for resurrection. She poured herself another glass, and pondered about her situation. It seemed like such a minor detour, coming down to Terra Nova, and it lead to her getting promoted to the Lazarus.

Thoughts of Ashley came to her mind. She sipped the wine, while her other hand absently touched her chest, just above her breasts, stroking her skin with the back of her fingers. She squirmed in the chair, clenching her thighs tightly.  
Miranda shook her head, shaking out of her reverie, then unceremoniously gulped down the rest of the wine and stood up, letting the bathrobe fall into the chair. Time to dress up and get back to work.  
She carefully chose her underwear, shirt and dress, while calling Hope on the terminal. No picture this time.  
“Get the car ready and meet me in the bar in five minutes.” She said, pulling on a fitting pair of pants. “And Lilium… start collecting files on the Normandy crew.” She tapped the terminal, ending the call.  
Miranda Lawson checked herself in the mirror once more, adjusting her hair just a tiny bit to look perfect, and then left the room for the bar. Maybe she could get one more drink before leaving the planet.  
There was no rest for the wicked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Special thanks to the kmeme readers, especially the anon who gave the idea about Ashley’s mission. It fit perfectly, and I could squeeze in Kasumi’s backstory into the puzzle. Also big kudos to smee!anon for the idea about Ashley’s hair. Couldn’t have made it like this without them.
> 
> Although this was the final chapter and the end of the original story, stick around for a bonus scene that wraps up a few things and answers a few questions that nobody might have asked.


	7. Bonus Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This part is not essential to the story, it's just something extra that popped into my mind later. All it really does is puts the story into a bit more context and shows us how the consequences played out during the whole game. Feel free to skip it. :)

**THREE YEARS LATER**

 

Ashley Williams stood in front of the Normandy Med Bay door, taking a deep breath. _This is stupid!_ she thought, shaking her head. She shouldn’t be nervous. She licked her lips and tapped the door panel, exhaling as it hissed open and there she was: Miranda Lawson, in the flesh, propped up with pillows in one of the beds, her sister sitting beside her. They both looked towards the noise, Oriana curiously, Miranda with an unfathomable expression. She lost a lot of blood down on Horizon, and spent a few hours in drug-induced sleep until Chakwas patched her up, so maybe it was just exhaustion.

Ashley pressed her lips thin. Miranda looked better, but still had that haunted look on her face and she was paler than normal. She flashed a weak smile at Ashley.  
“I was wondering if you will come,” she said.  
Ashley stepped in, letting the door close behind her, nodding at them politely, but waiting there without a word. It still surprised her, how much the sisters looked alike. When Ashley barged into the control room at the Sanctuary with Shepard and Vega, and saw Henry Lawson holding somebody hostage, Ashley’s heart skipped a beat. When she realized it was not Miranda, she allowed herself a sigh of relief. It was short-lived, though, once they realized that Miranda was indeed there with a serious wound, barely holding it together, holding a gun with a trembling hand, pointing it at her father.

“Miranda?” Oriana asked curiously.  
“Oriana, this is Spectre Ashley Williams,” Miranda said softly, not taking her eyes off her. “Ashley, this is my sister.”  
Ashley nodded and flashed a friendly smile, but she still didn’t trust her voice. She had hours to prepare for this and still, she felt she rushed into it, not knowing what to say.  
“Oriana, could you give us a little time?” Miranda said, turning towards her sister. There was a quick exchange of glances, Oriana’s eyes asking a question and Miranda’s gaze giving the answer. Oriana nodded with a soft smile and stood up. It was uncanny.  
“Of course,” the sister said. “I’ll talk to Shepard and check our supplies.”  
Miranda nodded, touching Oriana’s arm and watched her go. Ashley stepped out of the way and smiled again at Oriana. She tried not to stare too much at the resemblance.  
“Thank you,” she managed to whisper to Oriana as she left. The door closed again and quiet returned to the med bay.

Ashley just stood there and watched Miranda, hopefully with a benign expression on her face. Miranda looked tired, but she held her gaze, ready to take whatever was coming to her. There was an aura of calmness around her, and Ashley could guess why. It made it all the more harder to speak to her. Ashley felt like her chest was going to burst. She wanted to scream. She wanted to laugh in relief. She wanted to jump on her.

Miranda waited patiently, hands resting in her lap, giving Ashley her full attention. Ashley frowned. She found herself unable to chew her out after witnessing everything they saw at Sanctuary. They watched the video logs together with Shepard, and even from that, it was obvious that Miranda was fighting her way through the whole mess, same as they did. Shepard was not fooling around either. Choosing Vega and Ashley for the strike team meant extreme firepower was in order. Ashley didn’t say a word when she saw Miranda on the vids, but she did start to feel the pressure in her chest. She didn’t know what she wanted to find at the end of the road. Certainly wasn’t expecting the Lawson family reunion. And despite all her fears, and a great deal of shame, she felt proud when Miranda’s biotic pulse threw Henry Lawson through the window and into his death.

“I like your hair.” Miranda said finally, breaking the silence. Ashley absently lifted her hand to touch her hair and smiled.  
“Yeah. I thought, what the hell.”  
Miranda nodded, looking down at her hands, fiddling with the blanket.  
“It looks good. Fitting for a Spectre. Congratulations.” She looked up at the last word to show her she means it. “I’m proud of you.”  
Ashley didn’t know what to say. In barely five sentences, Miranda managed to catch the wind from her sails. She even motioned her closer, asking her to sit down next to the bed.

“So. How much do you know?” She asked quietly. It seemed that since Ashley was unable to get things off her chest, Miranda took over the conversation. Ashley smiled at that thought.  
Of course she would.  
“Shepard told me about your sister and father. Didn’t go into too much details, though.”  
Miranda nodded silently. 

Ashley complied, sitting on the bed, finally, next to her feet. And Miranda told her everything. She was keeping it as objective as she could, and straight to the point. She told Ashley about the way she was conceived, how she rebelled, what her father did to her—which finally explained to Ashley her weird behaviour back on Terra Nova—, how Oriana was born, and what Miranda had to do to get her away from their father. How she went to Cerberus, the only organization that could protect them from their father. The way she found a new family for Oriana and kept an eye on her, watching from the distance, invisible, unknown. How Shepard helped her to get Oriana to safety again, and how things fell apart after Shepard was arrested, how she lived like a fugitive for many months, hiding from three enemies at the same time, while trying to save her sister, again.

It didn’t take that long, and Miranda was getting exhausted from all the talking. She struggled with her tears, but she assured Ashley it was just the physical weakness. Ashley nodded politely.  
She understood that for the first time in Miranda’s life she was free, and she could start living her life. That could also explain the foggy eyes.  
“So what did you tell Shepard? About us.” Miranda asked in the end.  
“Shepard didn’t ask, I didn’t tell. I figured, if you didn’t tell anything, why should I?” Ashley shrugged.  
Miranda nodded seriously. “Okay.”

Ashley paused, a smile slowly spreading on her face as she touched Miranda’s legs and looked up at her.  
“It does explain a few things, though.”  
Miranda raised an eyebrow. “Like what.”  
“Like, when Shepard visited me in the hospital on the Citadel and gave me a volume of Tennyson poems. I was confused, because when I woke up, there was already one on my nightstand. I thought I must have been still out when Shepard first visited me.”  
“Ah, I see,” Miranda smiled, casting her eyes down. “And what did you find out?”  
“Well, I know Shepard pays attention to the crew but it would still make no sense to buy another volume and make sure that I know where it came from.” Ashley looked into Miranda’s eyes. “So I checked the security footage.”  
“And what did you find?” Miranda said quietly.  
“Well, there was one strange event: a quarian girl came into my room and fixed the air conditioning or something. I had to rewind it a couple of times to notice when she put the book on my table.”  
“That’s interesting,” Miranda said, looking up at her with a serious expression.  
“Also, a perfect cover. Quarians are rare nowadays, and they are strange enough so nobody would be suspicious.”  
Miranda smiled. “You should have seen me in asari disguise. Apparently, I’m considered anatomically pleasing…”  
She could not finish. Ashley leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips, lingering for a few seconds before pulling back, leaving Miranda speechless.  
“Thank you for the present,” Ashley said, staying close.  
Miranda bit her lower lip and nodded. Ashley continued, looking into her eyes.

“I wanted to hurt you,” she said, her expression serious. Miranda was caught off-guard, but she managed to keep a straight face. She knew this was coming but it still hurt a bit. She deserved it. Even though she was so tired and cold and dizzy. “I wanted to hurt you really bad. I felt betrayed. I spilt you all my secrets like a boy in love and you made a fool out of me. Eventually I got over it but I was mad at everybody. More mad than surprised when I heard about Shepard coming back from the dead. Brought back by Cerberus.” Ashley smiled at that, remembering what happened on the very same planet, Horizon. “What was I supposed to feel? And think? Was Miranda somehow behind this? Where is she hiding? Was I mad at you and vented it out on Shepard?” Ashley closed her eyes and shook her head. “I really wanted to choke you with my bare hands.”

Miranda nodded, trying to hold it together. She probably could have, but here they were again: Ashley confused and Miranda emotionally and physically drained. The high of the victory was gone, and she was exhausted. She could feel the tears coming and she really didn’t want to cry.  
“I know. I’m so—” she whispered but Ashley went on relentlessly.  
“It almost destroyed me, you see? Having Shepard at gunpoint at the Citadel…” she grimaced. “We were very close to killing each other.”  
Miranda wanted to say something, or ask her to stop, because she was too tired to listen to her rightful condemnation. But she had to let Ashley deliver her sentence.

“And when I saw you down there, I thought I was too late. She was going to die before I had a chance to scream at her. I felt like shit for thinking about you dying. For wanting to hurt you. It scared me that you could be gone like that. How selfish, huh? Your big moment, giving your life for your sister’s life and I was feeling bad about myself.” She snorted. “We lost you there for a minute, when you passed out, but in the end, here we are…”

Miranda blinked the tears out of her eyes and pressed her lips thin. Even though Ashley was right, it still hurt her. She gathered all her remaining strength.  
“I know. I understand if you can’t forgive me. But I would do everything the same—”  
Ashley stopped her with a kiss again. This time it was a complete surprise. Miranda had to remind herself that Ashley was like that sometimes. Unpredictable.  
“Thank you for bringing Shepard back,” Ashley whispered, pressing her forehead against hers. She chuckled sadly. “I did my research. In retrospect I said to myself: ‘Of course. If anyone could turn Miranda around, it would be Shepard.’ So, you see, by bringing back Shepard you could get your salvation. And I’m grateful for that to both of you.”

Silence stretched longer between them again, Miranda’s mind groggily struggling to grasp all the implications of Ashley’s verdict, while Ashley was just happy that it was finally all sorted out, all the puzzle pieces in place.

“So what happens now?” Miranda asked, whispering. She stopped worrying about the tears.  
Ashley shrugged, pulling away, rubbing her eyes, cupping Miranda’s cheek in one hand.  
“Dunno. We all go our separate ways and play our role in ending this war.” She sniffed. “And when it’s all over and if there is something left to celebrate, we all get together and get really really drunk.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Miranda laughed weakly and nodded, smiling. “Something you would come up with.”  
“I know.” Ashley stood up, taking a deep breath, clearing her head and her eyes. She adjusted Miranda’s blanket and brushed a dark lock of hair from her face. She kissed Miranda on the forehead. “See you on the other side.”

Miranda nodded silently, biting her lip and watched as Ashley Williams walked up to the door. As it hissed open, Miranda reached took a deep breath.  
“Ashley?”  
The Spectre stopped and turned back, standing in the doorway. “Yes?”  
“Thank you.”  
Ashley smiled and shook her head. “You don’t have to thank me anything.”  
Ashley took a step backwards stepped back and the door closed between them.


End file.
